Life in Parappa Town
by TrevorTheWriter
Summary: The world of Parappa the Rapper is a unique world that hasn't been explored much due to the series falling into irrelevance. I wish to explore this world. Join Parappa and co. as they go on about their interesting lives. Comments are very much appreciated!
1. Toying with Emotions

It was a sunny day in Parappa Town, blue skies and green grass bring color to the world as the sun shines on this peaceful town. In this town lived a young rapper, who would like nothing more than to make it big. But as of now, he is stuck babysitting his sister.

"Would you like more tea, Ms. Butterscotch?" The young girl pup asked, pretending to voice the giraffe plushie in her hands.

"No thanks, I'm good." The older, orange beanie wearing rapper said in his normal voice, clearly bored as he held out a pink princess doll.

"Parappa! Take this seriously! You promised that you would play with me today!" Parappa's younger sister scolded, not happy with her brother's lack of investment.

"Pinto, I'm 15, I'm too old to be playing "Tea Party" with you." Parappa complained as he put the doll down.

"I don't care! You promised to play with me! Now if you don't start taking this seriously, I'll tell Dad!" Pinto threatens in a childish manner.

Parappa let's out a miserable groan. "Okay, okay, fine…" Parappa reluctantly agrees to keep playing as he picks the doll back up.

" Why yes Ms. Peanut Butter, I would looooooove some tea." Parappa speaks in a half hearted female voice, with a bored look still on his face.

Pinto moves her stuffed giraffe to make it look like that it is pouring tea into the princess doll's little teacup. As this goes on, Parappa decides to improvise.

"Mmmmmmm thank you for the tea Ms. Peanut Butter." Parappa speaks in a girly voice with a growing grin. As Parappa pick up the small teacup, he makes the princess doll look like it just spilled the "hot tea" on itself.

"AAAAAAAAAHHH OH GOD IT BUUUUURRRNNNNSSSS!" Parappa laughs to himself as he shakes the doll, making it look like it's in pain.

"Parappa! That's not funny!" Pinto whines at her brother's lack of seriousness. Parappa is still laughing, shaking the doll.

"AAAH MY SKIN IS MELTING AAAA-"

Parappa stops mid-sentence as the head of the doll breaks off due to Parappa's rough Shaking.

Parappa and Pinto stare at the headless doll for a few seconds before Pinto cries out.

"MY DOLL! NOOOO! Y-YOU BROKE IT!" Pinto starts to cry over her broken toy. Parappa desperately tries to clam her down.

"Pinto! Look! I-I can fix it, see!" Parappa stutters as he tries to put the head back on the doll, with no success. Tears are coming out of the little girl's eyes

, "I-I'm telling Dad!" She sniffles as Parappa jumps up to stop her.

"Aw man c'mon Pinto! Look, I'll…I'll get you a new doll, okay?!" Parappa blurts out, trying to calm his sister down. Pinto calms down a bit.

"R-really?" She asks as she sniffles.

"Y-yeah, I'll go buy you one now, just don't tell Dad okay!?" Parappa says with his hands out, trying to calm his sister.

"Y-you better get me one that's r-really nice, or else I'm telling!" Pinto threatens. "Alright, alright, I'll be back in a bit." Parappa explains as he heads out to the toy store.

...

As Parappa was walking down the street, he starts to realize how hard it will be to buy a brand new doll with only a couple dollars, for which was all Parappa had. "Oh man, Dad's gonna bite me if I don't get something nice…" Parappa says to himself as he approaches "Toy Town", Parappa town's only toy store.

Parappa opens the door as the bell on top of the doorway chimes. The cashier behind the counter wakes up from his nap and sees Parappa.

"Uh…Oh…Hello! Welcome to toy town!" The anthropomorphic duck employee greeted Parappa in a forcefully happy tone.

"Hi, how much is for that doll?" The rapper points towards the shiny new doll by the window. "Oh you mean the Princess Spaghetti X-3000 Doll? That costs $4,999.99!" The sleep-deprived cashier explains.

Parappa's jaw drops at the price. "What?! How is that stupid thing 5,000 bucks?!" Parappa yells, flabbergasted at the price of some doll.

"I don't make the rules sir! I'm just a cashier who owes $50,000 in college debt and lives off of Raman noodles! Just give me a break!" The cashier yells with a forced smile and a twitching eye. Parappa stood there staring at the employee for an awkward few seconds before speaking up.

"Oooookay…uh…what can I get for 2 bucks?" Parappa asks the not-well-off cashier.

"2 bucks eh? I got just the thing!" He states as he reaches under the counter.

He slams the item on the counter, making Parappa jump. "BOOM! Whaddya think?" The cashier shouts, presenting a rusted slinky that is knotted up to all hell, basically making it a ball of rusted metal.

"Uh…that looks awful man…" Parappa speaks as he observes the junk.

"What? Oh please, kids love slinky's. See?" He says as he picks up the knotted slinky, about to demonstrate the fun of playing with rusty metal. He throws the metal knot across the store, making a loud "crash" on impact.

"See! HOW FUN! HAHAHAHAHA!" The unstable cashier cackles as Parappa backs away slowly towards the door. "Yeah…I gotta go." The dog then sprints out the door, leaving the cashier to cackle to himself, until he ultimately breaks down sobbing.

...

"Well that didn't help…maybe I should try the Flea Market?" Parappa asks himself as he heads towards the Market. Upon arrival, he is greeted by his old teacher, Prince Fleaswallow.

"Ah, Parappa Mon, good seeing you. What brings you to my Flea Market?" Fleaswallow says as he looks at Parappa with his tired eyes.

"S'up Mr. Fleaswallow, do you have any dolls for sale?" The dog explains to the Jamaican Market owner.

"Hmm, a doll eh? Well even though I got the funky flow, the truth is I don't know." Fleaswallow states, causing Parappa to sigh in disappointment.

"But, I do have something just as good, come take a look." He says as he digs around in a box nearby. He pulls out a horrifying looking doll with stitched pieces of old leather for skin, and two large, black eyeballs.

"What the?!" Parappa startles himself at the sight of the thing.

"There is no way that thing is going to be in my house!" Parappa objects, not wanting to purchase the spooky doll.

"Oh come on now, it isn't that bad. Look here, it has a string on the back to make it speak, see?" Fleaswallow pull the string on the back of the doll. When he releases the string, a freaky, high pitched voice comes out of it.

"Be my fwend…"

He pulls the string again.

"I wanna pway with you…"

"Huh, well…maybe-"

Parappa stops midsentence as the doll speaks again. "The fire will consume your body…"

The audio of the doll says in an even more distorted voice.

Parappa and Fleaswallow look at the doll with wide eyes before the green frog man slowly puts the creepy doll back on the ground. "Yeah…that is all I have mon." The market owner shrugs his shoulders as Parappa sighs.

"Well, thanks anyway, I gotta go." The young rapper takes his leave. "See ya later mon." Fleaswallow waves goodbye. When Parappa leaves the area, Fleaswallow turns around. His eyes shoot wide open when he discovers that the doll isn't there.

...

A few hours later, Parappa walks inside his home with a bored, tired look on his face. "What took you so long? Where's my doll?!" Pinto approaches her older brother with an impatient look on her face.

"Here, take it." Parappa calmly says as he hands her a makeshift doll made from a few sticks that are lazily held together with scotch tape, and a tennis ball for a head, with a poorly drawn smiley face scribbled on it.

"What? What is this?!" Pinto yells at her brother, clearly upset with her new "doll",

"It's your new toy, have fun." Parappa says as he heads towards his room.

"Well this sucks." Pinto exhales as she throws the makeshift doll into the trash. But at least I have you now, Ms. Burnbody!" Pinto exclaims with a smile as she holds up a doll with leather skins and black eyes, she pulls the string on the back of it.

"I wuv you, Pinto…I will wuv you forever…"


	2. I Scream

It was a warm day in Parappa Town, The Phat Donut was fairly busy as a rapping dog and a sleepy bear sat at one of the tables. Parappa takes a deep sigh as he rests his head on his hand, clearly feeling bummed out. PJ continues to chow down on his donuts, not noticing Parappa's gloomy mood. Parappa sighs once more, a little louder, trying to get his friend's attention. PJ still doesn't notice. Parappa rolls his eyes as he sighs even louder this time, shaking the table a little bit to ensure his friend's attention. PJ stops eating for a moment and looks over at Parappa. The teddy bear looks at him with his usual tired and bored expression.

"Is there something wrong Parappa?" PJ finally asked the dog as he lowered the donut from his mouth.

"I don't know, it's just that our album hasn't been selling well since we released it." Parappa groans, clearly displeased.

"Well, how many copies have been sold?" PJ asks the novice rapper.

"Uh…none." Parappa admits, lowering his head in shame.

"Oh, well…that sucks." PJ shrugs, clearly not as upset over the fact as his best friend is.

"Yeah, it does!" Parappa slams his fist of the table, startling the sleepy bear.

"I want people to recognize me! I wanna be famous from here to Lyric City! I wanna be the best rapper in the game!" Parappa speaks with determination in his voice. Parappa stands up on his chair raises his fists in the air. "People from all over are gonna know me! PARAPPA THE RAPPER!" He shouts as he stands on his chair with his fists still in the air.

Everyone at the Phat Donut are staring at the dog as if he's insane. Parappa darts his eyes around, seeing this. He quickly sits back down, cheeks red from embarrassment.

"Why don't we try waiting?" PJ asks.

"Cuz that'll take forever!" Parappa responds.

"Well, we can try advertising our album." PJ suggests.

"We already tried that, it didn't work." The rapper responded.

"Parappa, standing at the entrance to the movie theater and not letting anyone leave until they buy our album was not a good way to advertise it." PJ rolls his eyes at the memory.

"Well what are we gonna do?" Parappa asks the DJ.

"Hmmmm….we can hang up posters?" PJ suggests.

"Hey….that's not a bad idea! Let's go!" Parappa exclaims as he takes PJ by the hand and drags him away, leaving his donuts behind. As Parappa keeps running, PJ holds out his hand, a tear dropping from his eye at the abandonment of his donuts.

...

Later at PJ's house, Parappa is scribbling furiously on a piece of paper. "Almost…almost…" Parappa keeps drawing at a speedy pace as PJ tries to get a peak at it, only to be blocked by the dog.

"Okay…finished!" Parappa huffs as he shows PJ the finished "poster". It was a drawing of a poorly drawn Parappa and PJ, with several ice cream cones around them, with the title "I Screem" at the top of the paper.

"So…what do ya think?" Parappa says with a smile. PJ stares at the drawing for a few long seconds.

"Parappa…this…this is awful man…this is bad." PJ admits, with Parappa's smile fading away. "This looks like it was drawn by a three year old, and you even spelled "Scream" wrong, it's-"

"Well you don't know what you're talkin' about! We're using this!"

Parappa states with a frown at PJ's criticism. PJ sighs at his friend's stupidity as Parappa uses the copying machine.

Later that day, Parappa and PJ start placing the posters everywhere, on telephone poles, windows, cars, walls, etc.

"Whew….there! Now everyone in town can see these posters!" Parappa exclaims as he wipes the sweat off his forehead.

"I don't know it putting posters "everywhere" was the best idea Parappa." PJ says to his friend.

"Why not?" Parappa asks. PJ simply points up to the sky, revealing dark, gray clouds forming rather quickly.

"Oh…" Parappa quietly utters as rain starts to come down, making all the posters disintegrate into soggy paper mush.

...

A little while later after the rain stopped, The two friends try to think of what to do next.

"Hmmm…okay…how about…we try to appeal to kids!" Parappa suggests as he comes up with an idea.

"Huh?" PJ looks confused.

"Think about it, if we pander to little kids, then the parents will buy it for them. Then the parents will listen to the music too and love it, causing them to buy more albums, it's genius!" Parappa shouts with excitement.

"If you say so, but how will we get kids to like this stuff?" PJ questions the rapping dog.

"Come with me, I have an idea." Parappa says as he starts to walk, with PJ following close behind.

After a fairly short walk, The two aspiring musicians end up at the local playground, where a bunch off Bunny toddlers are playing. "See those kids PJ, after I'm done talking to them, we'll be set! Now watch and learn!" Parappa explains as he approaches the children, with PJ watching from a distance.

"Hey….what's up kids!?" Parappa says in a casual tone as he walks up to the toddlers.

"Um…we're good." The pink bunny says as the other little bunnies gather around the stranger.

"Hey, that's nice, that's nice….anyway….you wanna see something cool?" Parappa asks the kids with a smile. Most of the little bunnies all cheer, wanting to see what this cool thing is. But the pink bunny spoke up.

"But…Miss Piwwah said dat we shouldn't see what stwangahs have to offah…" He says in an innocent, lispy voice.

"Well she must be a dummy, now check THIS out!" Before Parappa could pull out the CDs, he heard a strange, garbled voice from behind.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

Parappa turns around and jumps when he sees a big green and pink caterpillar lady, looking down at Parappa with an unhappy look.

"I'm just trying to give these kids something real nice." Parappa replies. The rapper's poor choice of words make the Caterpillar lady even angrier.

"Oh yeah? Well I have *bleh!* I have something nice to give you too!" The caterpillar says menacingly as she throws up some pink goop on the ground.

"Whoa, wait a sec-"

Before Parappa could say anything else, the caterpillar grabs Parappa's legs with two of her many arms and starts swinging him around.

"WHOAWHOAWHOA PJ HELP SHE'S GONNA KILL ME AAAAAAAAA!" Parappa screams for help, only to realize that PJ is long gone. The little Bunny toddlers cheer on their nanny as she slams the unlucky rapper on the ground repeatedly.

"AAH OOF! STAHP OOF! THIS UGH! THIS HURTS ACK!"  
Parappa screams as he is beaten senseless by this Caterpillar creature.

Later that night…

Parappa is laying in a hospital bed as he is covered in casts and bruises. He moans in pain as PJ eats a bag of chips in the chair next to the bed. The doctor comes walking in shortly after.

"I got some good news and I got some bad news." The doctor says as he reads off his clipboard.

"The bad news is you're right leg is broken and you have a severe concussion. The good news is that I just bought your album!" He smiles as he pulls out the CD case from the inside of his coat. "It's pretty cool!"

"See Parappa, I knew we just had to wait!" PJ smiles as Parappa glares at his best friend.

"Yeah it's pretty hip dog!" The doctor smiles some more. Parappa and PJ stares at him for a few seconds.

"Am I hip with the kids now a days? Hehehe…I'll go now." The doctor says as he leaves the room in embarrassment.


	3. Smartphoney, Part 1

It was an early morning at Parappa Town High School, students were roaming the halls, minding their own business. One student in particular, an orange beanie wearing rapper, is strutting down the hall will a cocky smile on his face. A few of this particular student's friends see him.

"Parappa sure looks happy today." Sunny Funny says to her friends as they gather around her locker..

"Oh boy, he's probably going to try to impress Sunny again with something stupid." Katy Kat whispers into PJ Berri's ear, waking him up from his standing nap.

"S'up guys!" Parappa smiles at his friends, who all respond with Hi's.

"How are you today Parappa?" Sunny asks the grinning dog.

"I'm great! In fact, I have something to show you!" Parappa exclaims as he reaches into his pocket, pulling out a brand new smartphone.

"Check it out, It's the new ePhone XYZ Ultra!" Parappa boasts as he holds out the cellphone for his friends to see. Katy is the first one to speak up.

"Wow Parappa! That looks really ni-"

"So what do you think of it Sunny?" Parappa asks the flower girl, interrupting Katy. The blue cat clearly looks displeased as Sunny speaks.

"It's really cool!" Sunny simply says, which in return Parappa gets all giddy as he starts dancing around like an idiot.

As Parappa starts daydreaming of the wedding between him and Sunny in the middle of the hall, he fails to see Joe Chin running down the hallway. This causes the two dogs to collide with eachother. Due to Chin's large, muscular physique. He is mostly unfazed, where as Parappa falls on his face after getting launched down the hall, causing the new cellphone that was once in the rapper's hands to crash out the window.

"Ah, Sunny, what a surprise to see you here!" Joe Chin greets his flower crush, not even paying attention to his "friend" who he just accidently knocked out. As Katy and PJ rush to Parappa's aid, Joe keeps talking to Sunny.

"Anyways, I just wanted to show you my brand new Joe Chin Brand Super Duper Mega Cool Cellular Telephone with a Jewel encrusted phone case!" Joe Chin states as he pulls out his huge custom cellphone, which sparkles in the light.

"Oh woooooow!" Sunny says amazed.

"C'mon Parappa wake up!" Katy says while shaking the unconscious dog as PJ elevates his head.

"Come, walk with me Sunny! Let me show you how this works!" Joe Chin leaves with Sunny as he continues to brag about his awesome phone. Shortly after their departure, Parappa wakes back up.

"Nnnnngh…what…what happened?" Parappa groans as he holds his head with his hand.

"Joe Chin sent you flying!" PJ says with his tired expression.

"Yeah, and that wasn't the only thing that was sent flying." Katy says as she points towards the broken window with a phone shaped hole in it. Parappa sees this and his blood runs cold.

…"Oh no…" He jumps up and runs down the stairs. PJ and Katy follow behind. They go outside to try to find the phone, and after a short search, they found it. Well, what's left of it anyways.

"Oh noooooo!" Parappa whimpers as he picks up the several pieces of his now broken phone. "This costed me $600 bucks!" Parappa shouts as he drops to his knees.

"Technically, it cost your Dad $600 bucks. You're broke remember?" PJ speaks up.

"Yeah…thanks." Parappa rolls his eyes at his friend.

"I'm sorry Parappa…"Katy says with sympathy as she puts her hand on his shoulder.

"Well, maybe it can still be fixed!" PJ suggests.

"Uh…PJ…I don't think that's possible." Katy stares at the teddy bear.

"Sure it is! Those guys in the school Tech Club can fix anything! They even fixed my ePod!" PJ exclaims as he pulls out his music player.

"Well…I guess it can't hurt to try…" Parappa gets up as he and PJ head to the school Tech Club room. Leaving Katy behind to facepalm herself.

...

A little later on they finally reach the Tech Club room. "Are you sure these guys can fix my phone?" Parappa asks his best friend.

"Yeah man, these guys are basically professionals when it comes to fixing this kind of stuff. PJ and Parappa go inside the room, only to see the members of the Tech Club in the middle of a heated argument.

"For the LAST TIME! "Kintsugi Katana 3″ is the best manga of all time!" The overweight irritated raccoon screamed at the short, purple cat.

"Caleb darling, you wouldn't know quality entertainment if it hit you on your empty head. "Diamond Fashion Forever Z is the best you pleb." The small, purple cat huffed as he turned his head away in annoyance. The raccoon was visibly fuming.

"THE ONLY REASON YOU LIKE THAT GARBAGE IS BECAUSE ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE HALF NAKED!" The chubby raccoon shouted in rage. This caused Parappa and PJ to jump.

"C-can you please stop all zis fighting…" The other Club member, a green puppet person, quietly mumbled in a light German accent as he shrunk down in his chair, clearly uncomfortable with the confrontation.

"For the love of God, all you two have done today is bitch about what manga is better. If I have to hear another minute of it I'll stick an ice pick in my ear." The last club member, a White Human with brown hair, stated while turning his chair around.

"Oh please James, don't give me that pious crap, all you've done today is play "Super Alley Puncher II"." The raccoon named Caleb argued back.

"Hey, I'm trying to unlock all the characters for it, at least I'm being productive!" James spout back, getting angered from his raccoon friend.

"Well…I-I fixed most of ze computers in ze-"

"Productive my ass!" Caleb interrupts the puppet as he continues arguing. "Don't act so high and-JESUS CHRIST!"

Caleb falls backwards, crashing into several tables when he saw Parappa and PJ just standing there, spooking him. The purple cat laughs at this while the green timid puppet simply gets up to clean up the mess.

"For the love of god Caleb you're such a wimp." The human rolls his eyes as he turns toward the two visitors. "S'up PJ, what do ya need?" James greets the bear casually.

"Hey James, my friend Parappa here needs his phone fixed!" PJ says as he fist bumps James.

"Lemme see." James asks as Parappa shows him the several broken pieces of the phone. The other members of the club gather around to see, and after a quiet few seconds of staring at the destroyed technology, everyone except for the green puppet laughs.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Parappa asks the laughing club members, confused.

"That thing's been pulverized! We can't fix it!" The raccoon shouts.

"Darling, that phone is about as worthless as your sense in fashion, ugh." The purple cat giggles as he takes a seat.

Parappa blushes as he feels embarrassed now.

"Oh come on now, you guys fixed my ePod the other day!" PJ speaks up.

"Dude, you spilled orange drink on your ePod. His phone looks like it was smashed with a hammer, it's beyond repair." James says as he tosses the remains of Parappa's phone in the trash.

"Aww man…what am I gonna do now?!" Parappa says in a defeated tone.

"Well, I know a guy who sells cheap phones, I can take you there after school if you want." James offers the rapper.

"Looks like I don't have much of a choice." Parappa says as he shrugs his shoulders.


	4. Smartphoney, Part 2

After school, the three boys set off towards town to find Parappa a new cellphone.

"So…where are we going?" Parappa asks James as they continue walking.

"To a friend's, he sells just about anything and everything." James casually replies.

"Oh, you mean like Prince Fleaswallow?" The rapping dog questions as he looks up at the taller boy.

"Pffft, he's a lot better than that old frog. Last time I went to that flea market, the dude tried to sell me useless old crap like skunks, trucks, pumps, and bottlecaps! Also he tried to sell me some creepy ass doll!" James ranted as PJ slowly trails behind the other two as he starts to feel sleepy.

"Alright, this is the place." James speaks up as they approach a dark alley. "Through here."

James leads a nervous Parappa and a half-asleep PJ through the alleyway. They reach a metal, rusted door with a small eye-level slot at the end of the poorly-light alley.

"Alright just stay cool, and let me handle the talking." James explains to the nervously-sweating dog as he starts to pound on the door, waking PJ up from his standing nap.

A sound of rustling and footsteps could be heard from the other side as a quick, but slightly raspy voice spoke up.

"Who is it? What do you want?" The voice questioned in a paranoid manner, making Parappa even more unsettled.

"It's me, James. I'm here with two friends. We wanna see your wares." James responded as the slot on the door opened, revealing two, white glowing eyes.

"Let me see your "friends"." The thing behind the door demanded as James steps out of the way, allowing the mysterious figure to examine the terrified dog and the bored, tired bear.

"Hmmmmm…are you cops?" The creature behind the door narrows it's white pupil-less eyes at the two young teenagers.

"N-n-no, sir." Parappa shakes his head as he sweats profusely.

"I don't think so." PJ utters without much emotion as he pulls out a candy bar from out of his pocket.

"What the hell do you mean by that?!" The figure's eyes widened with suspicion as he demands an answer from the hungry bear. PJ looks the figure right in the eyes with his trademark tired gaze and shrugs. Parappa sees this and speaks up.

"H-he didn't m-mean anything by that sir. He…he doesn't exactly say the right th-things sometimes hehehe…" Parappa nearly panics as he tries to defend his friend's poor choice of words as James rolls his eyes.

"Oh come on Dylan, do these two dorks look like cops to you?" James speaks to the figure apparently named "Dylan".

"Hmmmmm…alright…I trust you…" Dylan murmurs as he shuts the eye slot and the sound of several locks being undone is heard before the metal door finally opens.

It was completely pitch black inside the door, except Dylan's white eyes.

"Come on in, follow me." He says as he walks further into the building.

"Let's go." James instructs Parappa and PJ to follow him as he enters the place as well. Parappa slowly but carefully walks inside the dark hallway as PJ follows his buddy with unchanging expression. As PJ enters, the door somehow closes itself with a loud bang, causing Parappa to jump and yelp. Parappa can barely see James' back as he tries not to trip over anything in the darkness.

A few seconds later, the three boys reach a candle-lit room, with all sorts of objects on top of rugs and tables, presumably for sale. In front of the goods is Dylan, who is now completely visible in the candle light. He is dressed head-to-toe in blue robes, with the sleeves covering his hands. The only part of his body that wasn't covered by the robes was his face, but even that wasn't completely visible. The only parts that were seen were his glowing white eyes, and a large, toothy grin. The rest of his face was shrouded in darkness.

"Welcome…to my shop." He cackles as he holds out his arms. "What is it that you seek young lad? A red Gem from another world? A sword from a forgotten realm? The tooth from a drag-"

"I…just want a phone dude…" Parappa interrupts Dylan while feeling uncomfortable. The robe covered figure frowns at the boy.

"Fine…but don't interrupt me again "dude"." Dylan threatened as he mocked Parappa by trying to mimic his voice at the word "dude."

"Alright…let's see…phones, phones, phones…" Dylan mumbles as he digs through a large sack. "Most of the items I sell here are from the world I come from, and we didn't have phones like your world does."

Parappa tries to figure out what he means by saying "the world I come from." But before he could think, the shady seller spoke up.

"Aha! Here's a phone!" He hands it to Parappa. "That'll be fifty bucks!" Dylan motions his arm to receive payment.

"Uh, this is just a piece of cardboard with numbers written on it. This ain't a phone!" Parappa argued, clearly unsatisfied with the "phone" he was given.

"Look here punk, that's the only phone I have. Take it or leave it!" Dylan hissed as he looks down at Parappa with a frown.

"Don't give us that crap, I know you have more than that Dylan." James calls him out.

Dylan sighs as he rubs his eyes with his sleeve covered hand. "Very Well…I do have one…" The robe clad merchant digs through his sack one last time before pulling out a normal looking smartphone. "That'll be…uh…a hundred bucks." Dylan thinks of a price.

"Umm…" Parappa digs through his pockets as he tries to find the correct funds for the phone. "Will…uh…will $3 cover it?" Parappa offers the three crumpled up dollars in his pocket.

"What the fu-? Are you stupid? Three dollars?! Get your broke ass out of here!" Dylan yells at the broke dog.

"Whoa whoa wait a sec! Uh…PJ, how much you got?" Parappa asks as he doesn't want to get kicked out.

"Ummmmmmmm…PJ slowly searchs his pockets as everyone stares at him. "I got this candy wrapper!" PJ says with a silly smile.

Parappa facepalms himself as James lets out a snicker. Dylan on the other hand, looks to be growing even more impatient. PJ sees this and loses his smile as he digs through his pocket again.

"Uh…Oh! I have this coupon for the Phat Donut! Buy one hundred, get one 6% off!" PJ says as he pulls out the near useless coupon. "Oh wait, this expired in 1974…" PJ states.

"Oh for the love of- Just get the hell out of-"

"Wait wait please!" Parappa holds out his hands, pleading with the merchant. "Uh…" Parappa thinks of what to do next. A second later, Parappa slowly looks up at James. James notices this and shakes his head.

"Oh hell no, I'm not giving you money!" James blurts.

Parappa gives him puppy dogs eyes as he starts to whimper.

"If you're trying to be cute, it's not working, you're ugly as hell." The taller boy crosses his arms.

Parappa's eyes get larger and more sadder as he starts to whimper more audibly. PJ stares at Parappa while Dylan raises his eyebrow.

"You're not the only one who finds this disturbing." The robe covered guy says as he stares at the whimpering dog.

"Dude, stop, you're getting annoying." James raises his eyebrow as he unfolds his arms.

Just then Parappa's eyes gets abnormally larger and more sadder as his whimpers turn into an awkward scream-like-sound.

PJ backs up a bit as Dylan covers his ears.

"Jesus Christ just stop!" James yells as he is getting annoyed by the weird dog.

Parappa somehow manages to defy reality to make his eyes even bigger and look more sadder than before, increasing the volume of his whimper to earache levels.

"I'm gonna go wait outside." PJ blurts out as he heads towards the exit as Dylan starts screaming.

"OKAY okay I'll pay for the goddamn phone!" James screams as his eye twitches. All the sudden Parappa's eyes return to normal as he stops whining.

"Ah cool! Thanks!" Parappa smiles as James frowns at him as he reaches inside his wallet for the money.

He gives Dylan the money while Dylan throws Parappa the phone, who he barely catches.

"Oh yeah! I wonder what kinds of features it has!" Parappa happily exclaims as he hit the power button. All the sudden, the cellphone instantly grows two pairs of noodly arms and legs as the screen lights up with two beady eyes and a smile.

"Why hello there!" It screams in a high pitch cartoony voice.

It's sudden existence scares the crap out of Parappa as he yelps loudly as he stumbles into the table behind him, knocking most of it's contents on the floor.

"Oh my God it's alive!" James jumps up as he got spooked.

"My name is Phoney, and I'm your neeeeeeeeewww friend!" It smiles as Parappa controls himself.

"Whoa, a phone that can talk! Sunny will love this!" Parappa smiles as the phone giggles.

"Okay, you got your phone, now please get the hell out." Dylan sighs as he points towards the door.

Parappa and James head back outside to see PJ sleeping inside a cardboard box next to the door, using newspaper as a blanket.

"Yo PJ! Check out my new phone!" Parappa shouts as PJ wakes up from his homeless style snooze.

"Huh, wha?" PJ looks up at the animate phone with his sleepy eyes. "Oh cool!" He exclaims as he stands back up.

"Well there you go, you got your weird new phone." James speaks up as the phone does a funny little dance. "If you ever pull that "begging" crap with me again, I'll introduce you to the back of my hand." James frowns as he's not happy with losing a hundred dollars.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Time to take you home lil guy!" Parappa shouts with glee as he walks home, leaving PJ and James in the alley.

PJ reaches inside his pockets and looks confused. "Uh…where's my coupon?" PJ questions as he and James look at each other. Just then the eye slot of the door opens.

"Na na na na na na! It's mine now fatso!" Dylan laughs as he slams the slot shut.

After an awkward few seconds, PJ shrugs. "Oh well, I have enough cash anyway." PJ states as he pulls out a fat wad cash. Causing James' eye to twitch once again.


	5. Smartphoney, Part 3

Later on that day, the thrilled dog opened the door to his house as he walked inside with his new living phone in his hand.

"So, how much data can you hold?" Parappa asks the cellphone as he walks into the kitchen.

"Oh, you know, a lot!" Phoney exclaims in his cartoony voice as he waves his noodly arms around.

"Whoooooaaa…." Parappa is awestruck at the answer as his little Sister enters the room.

"Hey Parappa, have you seen Ms. Burnbo-"

"Go away Sis, I'm playing with my new phone I got today." Parappa interrupts Pinto as she frowns.

"New Phone? What happened to the one Dad bought you yesterday!?" Pinto questions as she crosses her little arms.

"Joe Chin ran into me and made me drop it out the window at school, just so he could impress Sunny with his fancy shmancy golden smartphone." Parappa huffs as he remembers what happened earlier. "But that doesn't matter, cuz I got this cool new phone! Look, it's even alive!" Parappa smiles as he holds out the animate cellphone.

"Hello Pinto, I'm Phoney! And I'm your brother's new best friend!" Phoney giggles in his high pitched voice as he does a little dance.

Pinto stares at the little phone with a raised eyebrow.

"With this little guy, Sunny will definitely like me!" Parappa blushes as he starts to do a little dance as well.

"Parappa, you already have a living electronic device." The little girl states. The rapping dog's face lights up at his sister's remark. "Oh yeah! You're right! Come on Phoney, I have someone to introduce you to!" Parappa says as he runs up the stairs.

Parappa opens the door to his bedroom in a hurry. "Boxxy! Where you at?!" The excited rapper calls for his robotic boombox.

Boxxy Boy jumps up with a blush, hiding a "Electronics Monthly" magazine behind his back.

"Oh, hey Parappa! How was school?" The radio asks in his high pitched robotic voice.

"Oh, it was bonk!" Parappa moans as he sits on his bed next to the boombox. "Joe Chin broke my new phone, and I couldn't get it fixed! But that doesn't matter now, cuz I just got a new, better phone!" Parappa holds out the smiling smartphone. "Boxxy, meet your new best friend Phoney!" The dog beams as he presents the cartoony cellphone.

"Haha! Why hello Boxxy!" The little Phone holds out his small hand towards the boombox.

Boxxy stares at the phone with a blank face for a few weird seconds.

"Haha, I guess you could say he skipped a beat!" The phone jokes with Parappa as he laughs to himself in a slightly creepy way. The rapper giggles along with him as Boxxy sits there in silence.

"Oh c'mon Boxxy Boy, don't be such a stick in the mud!" Parappa snickers as he puts the phone on his shoulder.

"But Parappa…I thought I was your robot buddy…" The boombox whines.

"Aw, you are! But Phoney here is more practical and new! He can make calls, send texts, surf the internet, take pictures, record videos, play games, and all kinds of cool stuff!" Parappa lists off the cool things Phoney is able to do.

"But…What about me?" Boxxy whines some more as he feels like he's being replaced.

"Oh don't worry, you can still play music!" Parappa says to the upset robot.

"You know Parappa, I can play music too!" The Phone happily states as he plays MC King Kong Mushi's latest song.

"Oh Sweet!" Parappa laughs as he and the phone start to dance to the rythmn.

Boxxy looks down to the ground with a saddened expression. The robot gets up and heads to the bathroom with a sad trot, where he can be alone.

...

Nightfall sweeps Parappa Town as everyone in the Rappa residence is fast asleep except for the young teenage boy and his phone. Parappa tucks himself into his bed wearing his Pajamas.

"Tomorrow's gonna be a good day Phoney. I'm gonna show you to Sunny Funny, and she's gonna fall in love with me!" Parappa blushes as he imagines Sunny jumping in his arms as she falls in love with him.

"Haha, yeah, you and I will be the best of friends haha!" Phoney giggles as he sits on the nightstand.

"Yep…" Parappa yawns as he turns off his lamp. "Goodnight…Phoney…zzzzzzz." The sleepy pup begins to slumber as Phoney quietly laughs to himself.

"Haha…we're the best of friends Parappa…nothing will change that…hehe…"

The phone flashes an uncanny grin as he slowly and quietly climbs down the nightstand and sneaks out of the dog's bedroom. The cellphone quickly walks down the hall until he reaches the door to the bathroom. He pushes the door open to see Boxxy Boy, sleeping in the middle of the bathroom floor. With the same weird smile still on the phone's screen, Phoney sneaks up to the dozing radio. Upon closer examination, Boxxy's battery latch is exposed. Phoney wastes no time as he opens the latch up, revealing two batteries. Boxxy Boy quickly wakes up to this.

"Ugh…what the-"

"Nuh-uh-uh…I wouldn't make another sound if I were you…"

Phoney says in his high pitched voice as he grabs a hold of one of his batteries.

"If this battery comes out, you'll shut down…hehe…and there's nothing stopping me from doing whatever I want to you if you're shut down." Phoney's smile get's more distorted and eerie as he continues to talk, much to Boxxy's silent horror.

"Listen to me…you're old news Boxxy…Parappa doesn't love you anymore haha…I'm his new best friend now…I'm his only friend now." Phoney's voice suddenly deepens when he says "only friend."

Boxxy's eyes are wide open in terror as the phone continues. "Hehe…I can't risk you being around here any longer…I can't have you tattling to Parappa now can we? Bye bye!"

"Wait wa-"

Before Boxxy could say anything else, Phoney yanks out his batteries. Boxxy's eyes go black as he shuts down.

"Hehehe…Goodnight!" Phoney smiles as he drags the powered down boombox down the stairs as quietly as possible. He manages to open the front door as he continues to drag Boxxy outside. Phoney picks up Boxxy Boy with unseen strength for such a small robot and throws him in the trash can.

"No one will stand in my way, I shall be Parappa's ONLY friend hehe!" Phoney cackles to himself as he heads back inside. Leaving the shut down Boxxy in the garbage.


	6. Smartphoney, Part 4

The sun was rising above the horizon as the coolness of the morning air was noticeable. A middle-aged dog emerged from his front door with a sigh, carrying a black trashbag.

"I see Parappa couldn't be bothered to take out the trash…again." Papa Rappa talks to himself, disappointed with his son's negligence to do chores. Papa lifts the lid to the garbage can and sees the powered down Boxxy Boy laying in there. The adult canine stares at the motionless blue boombox for a few moments.

"Uhhh…." Papa Rappa utters confusingly, wondering why his invention is laying in the garbage. He takes the robot out of the trash and inspects it, seeing that it needs batteries. He takes out two batteries that he conveniently had in his pocket and puts it in the boombox.

Boxxy's eyes light up as his arms and legs squirm around, being awakened from his deactivation.

"-Wait Phoney No!"

Boxxy screams out before he realizes he wasn't in the bathroom anymore, but in Parappa's father's hands outside the house.

"What? What happened?" Boxxy worriedly questions Papa Rappa.

"I found you laying in the trash can, without your batteries. Did Parappa throw you away? Because if he did I swear to go-"

"No no! He didn't! It was that freaking Phone!" Boxxy shouts, interrupting the father.

"The phone?" The man raises his eyebrow.

"Yeah! Parappa's new phone that he got after he broke his other new phone." The robot explains as he wiggles his arms.

"What? He broke his phone already?! That cost me $600 dollars!" The dad cried out as he is not pleased from learning that his son broke the phone that was worth a lot of money.

"Yeah, and now he has a new phone, that's alive! And he's evil! He's freaking evil!" Boxxy Boy freaks out.

"He wanted to get rid of me, and he said that he was gonna be Parappa's only friend! We need to stop him!" The boombox panicked as he squirms in his creator's arms.

Boxxy Boy takes a second to look at the sky. "Wait…is it morning?!" The robot yells with more fear in his voice.

"Yeah, Parappa left for school not even ten minutes ago." Papa explains.

"Oh no! We need to get to Parappa before the phone does something to him or anyone else!" Boxxy says in desperation.

...

Meanwhile at Parappa Town High, the young pup walks down the busy hallway with the living phone in his hand.

"Oh man, Sunny is gonna love you! Then she'll love me!" Parappa grins as he struts down the corridor.

"Haha! Yeah! But she will never love you as much as I love you! Haha!" The cellphone laughs in his cartoonish voice.

"Ha! Just you wait Phoney! She will practically jump into my arms!" Parappa laughs, not noticing Phoney's odd use of words. Phoney blankly stares at Parappa, with his electronic smile still on his face. Parappa doesn't notice though, as he sees Sunny down the hall.

"-So I asked they guy from the Phat Donut if he accepted expired coupons, and he told me to "shove it", I didn't really know what he meant by that, so I shoved the little kid behind me. Apparently I'm banned from there now." PJ shrugs as Sunny and Katy look at the teddy bear with strange looks.

"S'up guys!" Parappa greets his friends as he approaches them.

"Hi Parappa." Sunny smiles at the rapper, making him feel butterflies in his tummy.

"H-hey Sunny…" Parappa blushes as he awkwardly stares at the flower.

"Hey Parappa, what's that you got in your hand?" Katy asks, pointing at the smiling phone that the dog is carrying.

"Yo Sunny, check out what I have!" Parappa holds out Phoney, completely ignoring Katy's question.

"It's my new phone! And he's a lot better than the old one! He's even alive too! Say hello to Phoney!" Parappa holds out the living cellphone.

Phoney stares blankly at the girl, with his permanent smile still on his screen.

"Hi there…Sunny." Phoney greets the flower with a hint of venom in his high pitched voice. Sunny doesn't notice it as she is intrigued by the living phone.

"Introduce yourself to Sunny, Phoney!" Parappa instructs the smartphone.

"My name is Phoney…and I'm Parappa's BEST friend! Parappa values me way more than anyone else." Phoney states with subtle vitriol.

"Whoa…Parappa, your phone is so cool!" Sunny smirks at the dog, who in return blushes even more.

Katy looks somewhat concerned while PJ is on the verge of falling back asleep.

"You really think so?!" Parappa giggles as Phoney glares at the flower girl.

"Hey Parappa, can I hold him?" Sunny asks her friend.

"Only Parappa is worthy of holding m-"

"Sure! Here ya go!" Parappa interrupts Phoney as he passes him over to the yellow flower. Phoney looks visibly disgusted and irritated as Sunny coos at the little phone.

"Awww…who's a good little phone. You are! Yes you are!" Sunny speaks to the phone in baby talk as Phoney's screen starts glitching.

"Let go of me!" Phoney squirms in her hands as he appears to grow more hostile.

"Uh…Sunny, I think you should put it down…" Katy sees that something bad is going to happen soon as she looks on with growing unease.

"Oh Katy, Phoney loves Sunny!" Parappa waves off Katy's concern as Phoney starts glitching more.

Sunny finally takes notice and tries to hand it back to Parappa. "Uh…Parappa, I think it's broken…" Sunny starts to feel creeped out by the cellphone.

"Broken?…You think I'm broken?…The only one here who's going to be broken is-" Phoney's voice becomes distorted as he is interrupted when Papa Rappa's car crashes through the school's front entrance. Causing everyone in the hall except Parappa and company to freak out and run away.

"PARAPPA! WAIT! THAT PHONE IS EVIL!" Boxxy Boy screams as he jumps out of the driver's seat.

"Oh my god my CAR! It's wrecked! Wh-why did I let you drive! Oh god!" Papa Rappa freaks out about his destroyed car as Boxxy Boy runs up to his master.

"Dammit! I thought I've taken care of you!" Phoney yells at the boombox.

"Boxxy? What the heck is going on?" Parappa questions his robot with increasing fear.

"That Phone is evil! It tried to kill me!" Boxxy shouts.

"But…Phoney wouldn't hurt a fly!" Parappa retorts.

"Yes I would! I will hurt anyone who get's between me and you Parappa! Starting with Sunny!" Phoney points at the scared flower girl.

"You're not gonna hurt my friend!" Katy scowls at the cellphone as she jumps in front of Sunny.

PJ wakes up from his little nap. "Huh…what's going on?" He sleepily says.

"MY CAR!" Papa Rappa is still grieving over his wrecked car.

"Haha, well then! I guess It'll be two for one! HAHAHAHA!" Phoney cackles as his hand turns into a laser cannon, charging up for a blast. Sunny and Katy look on in fright as Phoney laughs.

"Say Goodb-WHOA!"

Parappa simply drops the phone from out of his hands as Phoney crashes on the school floor, cracking his screen. Phoney twitches with pain as he seems to be gravely wounded.

Boxxy Boy picks up the damaged phone and holds him over his "head."

"There is only room for one robot in Parappa's life! And. That's. ME!"

Boxxy screams as he slams the phone on the floor with an Attitude Adjustment, shattering it in little tiny pieces.

"Parappa, you saved us!" Sunny and Katy run up to the Hip Hop Hero to give him a hug.

"Aw…I'm glad you're safe Sunny!" Parappa hugs Sunny back, ignoring Katy. The blue cat slaps the dog over the back of the head as she rolls her eyes.

"Ow! Not cool!" Parappa whines as he rubs his head.

"I'm glad this is all over now." Boxxy says as he hugs Parappa's leg.

"Yeah, let's just go home." Parappa smiles as he rubs the robot's head.

"We can't! The freaking car's wrecked!" Papa Rappa yells as he looks at the busted vehicle.

"Huh? I wonder if that Dylan guy sells cars too?" Parappa asks himself.

Everyone gives Parappa a mean look as PJ slaps Parappa upside the head.


	7. Tamanegi Flavah

"I'm tellin ya PJ, you can milk a bird if you really wanted too." Parappa explains to his best friend as they walk down the sidewalk.

"Parappa, you're full of crap." PJ responds as he eats an ice cream cone.

"For real PJ! I seen it in one of those shows!" Parappa waves his arms around as he tries to prove PJ wrong.

As the boys continue to argue, sound of muffled sobbing could be heard. Parappa and PJ turn to the sound of the crying and sees Chop Chop Master Onion, sitting on the ground, wearing his red glittery jumpsuit, which has become dirty and patchy.

"Chop Chop Master Onion?" Parappa calls out to his karate teachers as he looks up with tear stained eyes.

"Parappa…you shouldn't have to see me like th-"

"Can you milk a bird?" Parappa interrupts his somber teacher with his important question.

Chop Chop Master Onion blinks at the dog with a dumbfounded expression before speaking once more.

"…what?"

"Is it possible for you to milk a bird?" Parappa repeats the question.

"I…I-"

"See Parappa, he knows you can't milk a bird!" PJ argues with his rapper friend as he licks his ice cream.

"Oh shut it PJ, he never said you can't!" Parappa fires back.

"Parappa…I-" Chop Chop tries to interject.

"He never said you can either."

"Did not!"

"Did too."

"Parappa, PJ, I really-"

"Well how would you like it if I milked you huh?" Parappa yells at his friend.

"Parappa, that doesn't make sense." PJ claims.

"You don't make sense!" Parappa yells as he points at the sleepy bear.

"Parappa can you please-" The impatient onion tries to get a word in.

"Chop Chop Master Onion can you help me find a bird to mi-"

"SHUT. UP!"

Chop Chop Master Onion shouts, causing the two boys to go silent. The karate master speaks up again.

"As I was saying, you shouldn't have to see me like this…" Chop Chop sniffles as he rubs his eyes.

"Uh…what's wrong?" Parappa asks the sad karate man.

"I…I lost my TV show…It appears that no one wanted to learn Romantic Karate…and then, my fiancé left me…for a filthy Turnip." Chop Chop cries again over the loss of his television show and his fiancé.

"Aww…Chop Chop Master Onion, I'm sorry about that." Parappa feels bad for his teacher.

"Yeah man, your life kinda sucks right now." PJ casually adds on as he licks his ice cream.

Chop Chop cries some more until a lightbulb went off in Parappa's mind.

"Don't worry Chop Chop Master onion! I have a plan to help you get your TV show AND Fiancé back!" The rapper beams with happiness.

"How?" Chop Chop sniffles as he looks up to his student.

"You just gotta believe!" Parappa spins around with a big grin.

...

A little while later, Parappa, PJ, and Chop Chop Master Onion show up at the Parappa Town TV studio.

"Okay Chop Chop Master Onion. You're gonna go up to that receptionist, and you're gonna demand to see the Studio executive!" Parappa instructs his karate teacher.

"Are you sure this will work?" Chop Chop asks with hesitation as he looks over to the bored looking receptionist in the lobby.

"Yeah! Just remember, be assertive! Now go on!" The rapper pats the Onion man on the back as he makes his way inside the lobby.

Chop Chop approaches the front desk.

"May I help you?" The bored tiger woman says as she files her nails.

"Uh…yes. I would like to speak with the Studio executive about getting my TV show back." Chop Chop politely asks the woman.

"I'm afraid all cancellations are final, have a good day sir." The receptionist waves off the onion in a somewhat rude manner.

Chop Chop looks back to Parappa and PJ, who are staring back at him through the window, as the rapper is mouthing off the words "be aggressive."

With a deep breath, Chop Chop Master Onion turns back around.

"Uh…Listen here…you...uh...bitch." The receptionist immediately looks up with glaring eyes, causing Chop Chop to shrink a little.

"You are gonna give me back my TV show…right now…uh…bitch." Chop Chop slaps on the dreaded "b" word for good measure.

Chop Chop turns around to the two boys and gives them a thumbs up.

A second later, the receptionist presses the red button underneath her desk and almost immediately after, three huge, burly security guards storm into the lobby, coming after the karate teacher.

"Uh oh…" Parappa utters as PJ looks on with his usual sleepy gaze as the huge men come closer to the karate master. Parappa panics as he tries to frantically point to the security guards who are coming after his teacher.

Chop Chop looks to where Parappa was pointing and let's out a little yelp of panic as the first guard grabs him. Chop Chop utilizes his karate skills as he kicks the big man in the stomach and flips him onto the floor.

"Hah! You don't stand a chance against a Karate Mast-ACK!"

Chop Chop is interrupted as the second security guard smashes a potted plant over the onion's head, dropping him like a sack of potatoes.

The three guards proceed to wail on the poor Karate Master before picking him up and throwing him outside the door. Landing right at Parappa and PJ's feet.

"Hiyatatata…ta…" The Onion moans in Pain as Parappa and PJ pick up his bruised body.

"Well you might not get your show back…but you will still get your girl!" The rapper smiles as he and PJ drag the nearly unconscious Onion down the street.

...

Later on, our three heroes look at the coffee shop next across the street, seeing Chop Chop Master Onion's ex-fiancé and the Turnip dude laughing while having coffee, they are obviously on a date.

"That…homewrecker!" Chop Chop glares menacingly at the turnip.

"Alright, that guy looks like a dummy! Go in there and get your girl back!" Parappa instructs the bruised up teacher.

"Right!" Chop Chop Master Onion crosses the street with determination as he approaches his ex-fiancé.

"Vidalia!" Chop Chop calls out to her.

She sees this and rolls her eyes. "Oh boy…What do you want Chop Chop?" She looks at him with disgust.

"You have to give me a second chance!" Chop Chop pleads with puppy dog eyes, looking quite weird since he's a middle aged onion.

"No way! Not after I found out what you've been doing with those-"

"Shshshshshhhhh…That is not important!" Chop Chop looks around nervously, including back at Parappa. "But you have to come back to me! What has this chump done to win you over?" Chop Chop glares at the Turnip man.

"I co-own the only Homeless Shelter within 50 miles." He says with a glare.

"Oh yeah! Well, I…I owned a dojo!" The onion snaps back.

"Just leave Chop Chop." Vidalia tells off the desperate onion.

"No! I see now that the only way to win you back is to teach this loser a thing or two about ROMANTIC KARATE!" Chop Chop Master Onion Exclaims as he reels back his arm.

"LOVE PU-"

As Chop Chop pulled his arm back, readying to strike, he accidently bumped someone's coffee out of their hands and it splashed all over that person. This person was one of the security guards from earlier.

"Uh…Love hug? Hehe…" Chop Chop utters with a nervous laugh before getting chokeslammed through a table.

Parappa and PJ watch the vicious beating from a distance.

"Well that didn't turn out as well as I thought." Parappa simply states.

"C'mon, let's go see if we can milk some birds." PJ says as he and Parappa walk away from the violent scene.


	8. Not the Bees! Not the Bees!

It was a sunny afternoon as Parappa returns home from school with a big dopey smile on his face.

"Hey champ, how was school today?" Papa Rappa greets his son as the boy walks through the front door.

"Oh man it was great! Take a look!" Parappa shouts as he holds up a paper.

"I got a D+ on my English Test! This is dope as heck!" The rapper dances around the living room.

"What? Parappa…that's…that's awful! You should be getting A's! Not D's!" His father exclaims, not thrilled that his son is only a step above failing.

"At least I didn't get an F like last time! Yeeeaaaahhhh Booooooyyyyy!" Parappa keeps dancing around like an idiot until his little sister walks through the door with a stressed out look.

"Hi Pinto, how are you?" Papa Rappa asks his daughter.

The small pupper groans as she flops down on the sofa.

"Uh oh, what's the matter?" The father sits beside his upset child.

Without saying anything, she hands her dad a paper of her own. He quickly reads it and his face brightens up.

"Whoa! You qualified for the Elementary School Spelling Bee? That's great!" The middle aged dog feels proud of his little daughter as she whimpers.

"No it's not! I guessed most of the answers to the spelling test, and I somehow got them all right! Now I'm in the dumb spelling bee tonight, and I'm gonna look like an idiot compared to all the smart kids!" Pinto sniffles as she buries her face in her dad's shoulder as he tries to comfort her.

"Aww, don't worry sis! I'll help train you for the spelling bee tonight!" Parappa smiles as Pinto stops crying.

"Y-you will?" She responds back.

"Yeah! I did pretty good on my English Test, so helping you win a little Spelling Bee should be a piece of cake!" Parappa explains as Papa Rappa looks at him funny.

"Uh…Parappa. I think it would be best if I help Pinto study for the Spelling Bee." He says as he doubts his son's abilities.

"Uh, excuse me? Were you the one who got a D+ on your English Test? No? I didn't think so. Let's go train Pinto!" Parappa takes his sister by the hand as they head up to his room.

...

"Okay! Since this is an Elementary School spelling bee, this should be easy! I'm gonna give you a few words, and you're gonna spell them, aight?" Parappa instructs his little sister.

"Uh, I guess so." She responds.

"Okay! Spell…Cat." He starts off with a simple word.

"Oh, that's easy! C-A-T." She spells the word out.

"Aaah, wrong! It's spelled K-A-T." He tries to correct her.

"Parappa you fool, it's C-A-T! Everyone knows that!" Pinto scolds her dumb big brother as he scratches his head.

"So Katy's been spelling her own last name wrong all this time…wow…maybe I should be teaching her instead." Parappa shakes his head as Pinto facepalms herself.

"Auugh! Just give me another word okay!" Pinto starts to feel impatient as she wants to practice as much as possible before the Spelling Bee tonight.

"Okay, okay! You're next word is…uh…Peanut." Parappa chooses a random word.

"Um…P-E-A-N-U-T?" Pinto spells the word with slight uncertainty.

"Nope, it's spelled P-E-E-N-U-T. Get in the game sis c'mon!" Parappa tries to correct her.

"Alright next one, um….oh! Spell Boxxy!" Parappa instructs as Boxxy Boy looks up from reading his "Electronics Monthly" magazine.

"Uh…B-O-X-X-Y." She spells.

"Incorrect! It's B-O-X-Y!"

"Parappa you idiot there's two X's, not one!" Boxxy Boy feels offended that Parappa misspelled his name.

"Hey….shut up!" Parappa yells back at his boombox.

"Auugh! This is pointless! How am I gonna win if you keep telling me wrong answers!" Pinto freaks out.

"Pinto calm do-"

"Shut up! Leave me alone!" The little girl storms out of the room in distress.

"Uh oh…" Parappa sighs as he realizes he screwed up.

...

Nighttime came and the School Spelling Bee is underway. Parappa and his dad take their seats at the Elementary School Auditorium as things are about to start. Parappa looks at the stage, where he sees Pinto, along with 29 other kids her age. She looks over to see Parappa staring in her direction. She looked away with a mad huff as she crosses her arms. Parappa sighs with guilt as he looks around the audience. All the sudden, he sees a familiar face in the row behind him.

"Huh? James? What are you doing here?" Parappa asks his human classmate who is sitting in the seat of rows behind him.

"Oh hey Parappa! I'm here to cheer on my lil bro!" He beams as he is clearly proud of his little sibling.

"Whoa, you know, my little sister is in the Spelling Bee too!" Parappa states.

"Well, I'm gonna warn ya. My little bro is gonna give your sister a verbal ass kicking in this spelling bee! He's the smartest six year old on the continent!" James brags on behalf of his brother.

"Oh yeah, well…you're a dummy!" Parappa comes up with an excellent roast as he feels content with himself.

"Well at least I don't look like a traffic cone. Now be quiet it's starting!" James says as the Judge of the Spelling bee, a literal female bee, takes the stage.

"Welcome everyone to the Parappa Town Elementary School Spelling Bee. Thirty of the best spellers in the school will battle it out until there is only one student remaining…good luck children!" The bee concludes her brief speech as the first round is underway.

The bee judge takes her seat and calls out for the first contestant.

"First up is…Jonah Starfield." A small human boy with a light brown hair and a blue shirt with a star emblem walks up to the microphone.

"YEAH JONAH! THAT'S MY BROTHER! WOOOOO!" James shouts as he cheers on his brother while everyone in the building stares at him. The Bee Judge give the teen a glare as she turns her attention back to the young boy.

"Anyway…your word is…Note."

"Note…um…N-O-W-"

The judge rings the bell, signifying that he spelt the word wrong.

"I'm sorry, that is incorrect. You have been eliminated. Please exit the stage." The bee lady states without much emotion as Jonah's lip quivers in sadness.

James' eyes grow wide in disbelief.

"Uh…This Spelling Bee is rigged! That was too hard of a word for the first round!" James tries to defend his brother as he pats his upset brother's shoulder.

"Let's go home lil buddy. SHENANIGANS I TELL YOU! THIS IS SHENANIGANS!" James yells as he and his little brother leave.

"Alright then…next up is Elliott Honeycomb." The bee smiles as a young boy bee walks up to the stage. It is clear that the boy is the judge's son.

"Your word is…dog."

"Dog, D-O-G, dog!"

The boy quickly glances back at Pinto with a nasty smile, making her sweat with nervousness.

"That is correct! You move on to the next round!" She exclaims with a hint of pride in her voice.

"Okay then…the next contestant is Pinto Rappa."

The nervous little pup walks up to the microphone. She sees her father and brother in the audience. Who both smile at her. With Parappa still feeling a little guilty. Pinto feels a little bit better as she feels some of the anxiety melts away.

"Your word is…Tree."

"Tree…T-R-E-E, tree." Pinto spells the word with no stutter.

"That is correct, you move on to the next round." The judge explains.

"YEAH! THAT'S MY SISTER! YOU GO GIRL!" Parappa shouts just as loudly as James did. Pinto giggles at this while the Bee lady curses under her breath.

...

The night progresses as several more rounds go by and more and more kids get eliminated as the words become harder to spell. Pinto keeps hanging in there. As she remains confident with her family's support. This lasts until there is only two students left in the competition. Pinto and Elliott.

"The final round is upon us as we have reached the final two. Pinto Rappa…and Elliott Honeycomb!" She puts more emphasis on her son's name than with Pinto's.

"Whoever misspells a word first will be eliminated. Now, let's begin." She concludes as Elliott heads to the microphone.

"Your word is…Yogurt."

"Yogurt. Y-O-G-U-R-T. Yogurt."

"That is correct, please return to your seat!" The judge smiles a bit as she says her line.

"That was pretty easy to spell for a final round word." Papa Rappa says slightly confused.

"Yeah, something aint right." Parappa agrees.

Pinto approaches the microphone, slightly jittery.

"Pinto, you're word is…Circumference."

"Uh…Um…" Pinto starts to sweat a bit as she tries to think.

"What the heck? Not even I could spell that!" Parappa starts to feel like something is going on.

"Uh…C-I-R-C-U-M…uh…F-E-R-E-N-C-E?" Pinto shakes a bit as the judge exhales in subtle disappointment.

"That is correct, go take a seat." She reluctantly says.

"YEAH! PINTO! PINTO! PINTO!" Parappa cheers loudly for his sister. Even Papa Rappa is standing up to cheer. "ALRIGHT! THAT'S MY GIRL!" The man cheers on his daughter.

The bee boy returns to the microphone.

"Elliott, your word is…Rapper."

"Again with the easy words!" Papa throws his hands up in the air as Parappa pays attention to the competition.

"Rapper…R-A-P-P-A-R, Rapper."

"…That is correct." The judge hesitates a bit as she speaks.

"WHOA! HOLD UP!"

Parappa jumps out of his seat at this.

"I might not be able to spell a lot of things, but I know how to spell rapper! It's R-A-P-P-E-R!" Parappa objects to the judge's decision.

"Yeah, my son is right, that weird boy from earlier was right! This is rigged!" Papa Rappa interjects.

The audience begins to murmur to themselves, agreeing with the Rappa's.

The judge knows she has been caught, as she looks embarrassed. She looks back to her son, and with hesitation, she knows there is only one thing left to do.

"…I'm sorry Elliott, but that is incorrect…this means that…the winner of the Parappa Town Elementary School Spelling Bee is…Pinto Rappa." She admits in a defeated expression as the crowd roars with applause.

"YEAH SIS! WOOOO!" Parappa jumps up and cheers along with his father. Pinto cries tears of joy as the judge reluctantly hands her the medal.

"Oh gosh…I just wanna thank my Daddy…and my big bro Parappa!"

Parappa runs up to the stage and hugs his sister. He then takes the microphone off the stand and starts to rap.

"What's up everybody! Here at the spelling Bee!  
Pinto is the grand champ, as we all can see!  
You never ever ever gave up  
So you're the number one pup!"

The crowd cheers for Parappa's little rap as Pinto celebrates her victory.

(A/N: I hope you all like my little Parappa story so far! Feel free to let me know your thoughts on it!)


	9. Messy Times, Part 1

It was another September morning in Parappa Town as the school bell rang at the start of yet another school day.

PJ walks down the hall at a slow pace, bearing his well known tired look on his face.

The brown teddy bear comes across his best friend Parappa the Rapper, fiddling with a locker, which belongs to his other friend Sunny Funny.

"Parappa, what are you doing?" The bear curiously asks the rapping dog as he quickly turns around.

"Oh! Uh…s'up PJ?" The dog somewhat nervously speaks while he holds something behind him.

"Isn't this Sunny's locker?" The teddy bear raises an eyebrow at the dog.

"Uh…yeah." The rapper sighs as he shows PJ what he was hiding behind his back.

It was a pie, a very burnt, disgusting looking pie.

"I thought that if I would put this Apple Pie in her locker, she would find it later, and I would tell her I made it. Then…you know…she would fall in love with me." Parappa explains as he blushes at the idea of Sunny falling in love with him.

"Parappa, even your own mother wouldn't love you if you gave her that." The bear points out.

"Well…maybe I missed a step or two from Cheap Cheap's show…It doesn't matter, she might like it anyway." Parappa waves himself off as he open's Sunny's neat, organized locker.

"Okay, how am I gonna fit this thing in here?" The young rapper questions himself as he tries to place the horrible dessert inside the small locker.

"C'mon dang it! Just…flippin…fit!" Parappa huffs as he tries to force the apple pie in.

"Uhhh….Parappa…I don't think you should be so rough with that thing…" PJ cautiously advises Parappa, but he doesn't listen.

"Ugggh…I just…gotta…belie-"

The dog gets cut off as the rancid pie bursts inside of Sunny's locker, coating everything inside it with gross, sticky, charred, apple filling.

Parappa and PJ stare at the mess with their mouths agape, knowing they screwed up.

Parappa starts to sweat as he darts his eyes around, making sure no one saw that. Luckily they were alone.

He slams the locker shut as he takes PJ's hand. "C'mon we gotta bail!" He shouts as he runs off, leaving the scene.

...

About an hour has past as Parappa and PJ sit down at their desks in their English class, along with the other equally bored classmates.

"Psst, hey Parappa. Do you think we should of cleaned out Sunny's locker instead of running away?" PJ whispers, trying not to get the attention of their equally bored looking teacher.

"No way man! If Sunny saw me cleaning out her locker, she would know I did it!" Parappa whispers back.

"Maybe this will work itself out." He concludes, hoping for a miracle.

A few moments later, Sunny Funny walks into the classroom, empty handed and upset.

A miracle did not happen.

She takes a seat as the teacher begins to speak.

"Okay Class, time to open up your books to page 492 and begin today's assignment." He says with a monotone voice as Sunny cautiously raises her hand.

"Yes Sunny?" The teacher calls on the flower.

"I…I don't have my books…" She nervously speaks as she shrinks down in her chair.

"Why not?" The teacher raises his eyebrow.

"Someone ruined everything in my locker…" She peeps while looking at the floor, extremely uncomfortable.

"Well if you ruined your books, you will need to pay the fee." The teacher frowns at the upset Sunny.

"But I didn-"

"No buts! You either pay the fees and get new books, or else you will get left behind for not having your schoolwork!" The teacher concludes, ignoring Sunny's plea.

The poor flower girl looks like she is about to cry as she buries her face in her hands.

Parappa now feels a hundred times more guilty.

"Oh man…Sunny's gonna be in some big trouble if she doesn't have her stuff soon." Parappa speaks.

"We gotta get some money so we can replace her things." Parappa states, trying to think of a plan.

"Hmm…well…maybe we can start a lemonade stand?" PJ suggests.

"Hmm…I guess we gotta try. Let's do it." Parappa says with determination, wanting to right his wrongs.

Will he be able to believe hard enough to make this work?


	10. Messy Times, Part 2

Parappa and PJ set up their lemonade stand in front of the rapper's house as they plan to make enough money to buy Sunny new school stuff.

"Okay PJ. Let's see if we have everything we need." Parappa pulls out a little checklist from out of his pocket.

"Lemonade stand?"

"Uhhhhh…check."

"Lemonade?"

"Right here!"

PJ puts a gallon of store bought lemonade on top of the lemonade stand counter.

"PJ! We can't use that!" Parappa shouts.

"Why not?" The bear raises his eyebrow.

"Because lemonade stands need to use real lemons! We gotta make it fresh!" Parappa explains to the lethargic teddy bear.

"Go down to the store and get some lemons! Sunny needs this man!" The young rapper pleads his friend. PJ nods his head and walks down to the grocery store down town.

...

About an hour passes as Parappa sits at the stand, looking bored while staring at a bird that landed next to him.

"So…uh…got any milk in ya?"

At that moment, the teddy bear returns from the grocery store.

"Hey Parappa I'm back." He simply utters.

"Oh finally! You got the lemons?" Parappa sits up as PJ puts the bag on the stand.

"Yep, apparently these aren't ripe yet though." PJ empties the bag, revealing a green colored fruit.

"…PJ…those are limes." Parappa squints his eyes at the silly bear.

"No, they're green lemons." He responds.

The dog inhales through his nose sharply right before exhaling slowly.

"You know what…whatever. Let's just make the lem-I mean…Limeade." Parappa says in partial defeat as he grabs a big knife.

"Okay, so we're gonna need to juice these things, but first we gotta cut'em up in half." Parappa explains as he attempts to cut into one of the limes.

He can't seem to make a cut, no matter how hard he tries. He starts to grunt as he puts more force behind the knife as he tries to penetrate the outer layer of the bitter fruit.

"Uh…Parappa…you're gonna-"

"Oh c'mon! Just freaking cut!" Parappa shouts as he starts to get angry.

He tries to slam the knife down on the lime, to no avail.

PJ watches with unease as Parappa gets more and more angry with the limes.

Suddenly, the knife slips off the limes as Parappa went to try to chop it and it ends up slicing his hand instead. Both boys stand with their eyes wide as blood comes out of the wound. All the birds in the surrounding trees fly off as Parappa lets out an ear piercing scream.

...

Parappa rubs his bandaged hand as he and PJ stand in the park.

"Alright…so the lemon- I mean limeade stand didn't work out too well, so I guess we'll have to move on to something else." Parappa explains in a tired, but still determined expression.

"Like what?" PJ asks.

"Well, you see, I saw a cartoon earlier about a monkey that danced around for coins. So we're gonna do that." The pupper explains.

"You're taking advice from a cartoon?" PJ asks with a tone of judgement.

"Hey, cartoon's have valuable life lessons to them!" Parappa frowns at PJ.

"Now since I forgot to let Boxxy out of the sock drawer, we're gonna have to dance to the sounds of nature." Parappa stretches his legs as he prepares to dance.

"The only nature I hear are the sound to those two squirrels over there having se-"

"Enough time for talking PJ! We gotta dance!" Parappa says as he starts to do a little dance, spinning around while wiggling his arms.

PJ starts to dance too as he moves his hips in a circular motion.

Everyone nearby stops to stare at these two clearly insane kids dancing to no music.

"It's working PJ! It's working!" Parappa smiles as he thrusts his hips back and forth.

PJ continues to wiggle his body, clearly feeling uncomfortable with this as people give them strange looks as they walk away.

"It's!…It's…not working…" Parappa pouts as he stops dancing.

PJ stops as he gasps for breath, as he isn't very fit enough to do much physical exercise.

"Well PJ…I guess it's time for plan C."

...

"Can we have some money please?" Parappa begs a passerby as he holds out a little cup.

"Please? Wh-what about you? Can you- no, okay…how about you sir? Sir?" Parappa begs to everyone who walks by, all of which don't even look at Parappa.

"Oh PJ…this is…this is all useless…I can't even make it up to Sunny for me ruining her things…she'll never love me…" Parappa sniffles as PJ puts his hand on the dog's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Parappa…maybe we can beg some more if you like?" PJ tries to comfort the pup.

"Oh what's the point?! I might as well give up begging too." Parappa frowns at himself.

"NO NO NO!"

A loud, gruff voice shouts out.

Parappa and PJ look around with scared looks on their faces.

"Who…who said that?" Parappa shakes as he looks around with a worried expression.

"I did!"

All the sudden, a large, dirty deer person with an unkempt beard wearing a grimey trenchcoat stumbles out of the bushes next to them.

"You kids can't give up begging! It's the easiest thing in the world!" The big deer man exclaims.

"Who are you?" Parappa asks the stranger.

"Name's Beau. Ho-Beau. At your service. And I'm gonna help you two kiddies learn how to get easy money!" Ho-Beau explains.

"Oh…okay…how you gonna do that?" Parappa scratches the back of his head.

"Well, you'll need to look the part…." Ho-Beau stares at the two boys for a few seconds before pushing them both into the dirt.

"HEY! What the heck man!" Parappa and PJ get back up, feeling uncomfortable as they're covered In dirt and mud.

"Perfect! You two are halfway there." The deer exclaims.

"Ugh…what's next?" Parappa cautiously looks at Ho-Beau for what he has to say next.

"Next is the fun part! We're gonna learn how to get you some quick moolah!" The homeless man gives Parappa a thumbs up.

"But I can't beg…I suck eggs…" Parappa slouches with disappointment.

"C'mon Parappa, we gotta try…for Sunny." PJ encourages his friend.

Suddenly Parappa imagines an encounter with Sunny.

"Parappa! How could you! You ruined my school books, now you can't even pay for new ones!? I hate you! Joe Chin could buy me a million books!" Sunny slaps Parappa as she walks away angry.

Parappa snaps out of it. "I can't let her down…I have to try! But how..."

"Wait...I know! I gotta believe!" Parappa smiles as he shouts his catchphrase.

"Alright! That's what I wanna hear! Now just follow my rap kid, and you'll be a begging god!"

...

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...

LESSON 1

"All across the world, there's people without necessity. Food, water, shelter and even electricity. But this old deer has one thing in mind, you gotta do whatever to get out of a bind!"

"Beg beg beg!"

"Beg beg beg!"

"Spare some change?"

"Spare some change?"

"Can I have a penny?"

"Can I have a penny?"

"Don't be out of range."

"Don't be out of range."

LESSON 2

Out of all my years, I've shed a lot of tears. Living in the cold, It's hard to be bold. But give it your best shot, no matter what. And you'll find yourself out of a rut!"

"Can I have a dollah?"

"Can I have a dollah?"

"Can I be a star?"

"Can I be a star?"

"My homies say hollah."

"My homies say hollah."

"You're gonna go far."

"You're gonna go far!"

LESSON 3

"Pennies, nickels, any kind of coin. Nothing at all is like a kick to the groin. My dope rhymes make all the girlies dance. My sick beats will make you pee your pants!"

"Beg beg beg it's all the same."

"Beg beg beg it's all the same."

"You may think that it is all lame."

"You may think that it is all lame."

"But I have to try, I just gotta try!"

"But I have to try, I just gotta try!"

"Cuz if I don't, I may just die."

"Cuz if I don't, I may just die."

LESSON 4

"Parappa Town, it may not be gritty. Compared to Cactus Junction and Starlight City. I may be homeless, but I got heart. Get ready boy, here's the final part!"

"Money may be evil but it is vital."

"Money may be evil but it is vital."

"Crashing down, like a wave of tidal."

"Crashing down, like a wave of tidal."

"Copper pennies, to silver rings."

"Copper pennies, to silver rings."

"I may be on the streets, but I'm my own King!"

"I may be on the streets, but I'm my own king!"

People gather around and applaud Parappa as his cup is filled with coins and dollar bills of all types.

"I told ya kid. You're a begging god. Hehe."

"Thanks teacher! Time to help my girl!"

(A/N: Parappa's got some cash!

Even in my fanfiction Parappa still has time to rap. I call that little rap "Change of the Heart", I made that rap on the spot to be honest. So I hope it's Parappa quality lol.

Will Parappa's money be enough? Find out next chapter! Don't forget to leave a comment and tell me your thoughts!

Until next time, keep on believing!)


	11. Bonus Chapter 1, COOL MODE

(A/N: For this Bonus Chapter, we will see what would of happened if Parappa achieved Cool Mode on "Change of the Heart" on Messy Times, Part 2.)

LESSON 1

"All around the world, there's people without necessity. Food, water, shelter, and even electricity. But this old deer has one thing in mind, you gotta do whatever to get out of a bind!"

"Beg beg beg."

"Beg beg beg, b-b-beg!"

"Spare some change?"

"Spare some, some some ch-ch-change?"

"Can I have a Penny?"

"Penny P-penny, can I have? Can I have?"

"Don't be out of range."

"Don't be outta don't be outta range!"

As Parappa enters cool mode, some old lady comes by and hands Ho-Beau a ten dollar bill.

"OH WOW! I can finally afford some booze-I mean uh...books! Yeah...I'm outta here!" Ho-Beau runs off as a pure white limo pulls up next to Parappa.

A man who resembles the Monopoly Guy steps out holding a bag of money.

"For some strange reason I feel like being charitable! Let's go!" The rich man shouts as he dances around Parappa, showering him with money as Parappa continues to rap cool.

"Dollah Dollah, can I be a Can I be a star?"

"My homies say, my homies say you're gonna go far!"

"Beg beg beg Can I be a Can I be a Star?"

"Gonna go gonna go far!"

"I gotta I gotta I gotta try!"

"Cuz I'm gonna I'm gonna be a star!"

"Crashing down Crashing down I'm gonna go far!"

"Copper Pennies Copper Pennies Can I have a penny?"

"I may be I may be on the on the streets!"

"But I'm, But I'm, But I'm gonna go far!"

"I'm my own, I'm my own silver ring king!"

After Parappa finishes the rap on cool, he and PJ are buried under a pile of cash.

Ho-Beau all the sudden rushes back to the stage.

"HOLY MOLY! You truly are a begging god!" Ho-Beau exclaims in astonishment as he pockets some of the money.

"Hehe, I guess I just really believed in myself hehe." Parappa giggles as the crowd continues to cheer.


	12. Messy Times, Part 3

Parappa and PJ ran as fast as their legs could carry them as they made their way towards the residence of Sunny Funny.

The change in Parappa's little cup clinked and clanked together as he moves.

PJ nearly collapsed of exhaustion right as they arrived at Sunny's lemon shaped house.

"Oh man, I really hope this will be enough for Sunny." Parappa shot a worried look towards his out of shape friend as he proceeds to knock on the door.

After a short wait, the door opens. A morose looking Sunny Funny greets Parappa and PJ with a weak "Hello." Here eyes look red, as if she had been crying.

"Hey Sunny! I-uh…I heard that some uh…big jerk ruined all your school stuff, so I brought you some money so you could get some new stuff!" Parappa smiles as he holds out the cup of change towards the flower girl.

"Oh…uh…thanks Parappa, but Joe Chin already bought me new books." Sunny simply explains to the boy.

"Wait what?" Parappa shot her a surprised look.

"Yeah…he got me a whole bunch of them. I mean literally, like a truck full." Sunny points to the huge pile of books that are laying in the middle of her driveway.

"…oh…" Parappa sighs in defeat, knowing he did all of that for nothing.

"Thanks anyway…you can keep your money…" The usually bright flower gloomily looks at the ground, being uncharacteristic to her nature.

"Are you alright Sunny? Why are you still sad? You have new books now." Parappa shows concern as he notices her sad mood.

"I'm not upset because of that…it's just…my…my…" Sunny looks away from the boy, trying to hide her face from him. "I'm sorry…I gotta go." Sunny sniffles as she abruptly closes the door.

Leaving the dog and bear standing there looking at each other.

...

Later that day, PJ hangs out with Parappa at his house.

The two boys lounge around the living room playing Super Alley Puncher II as they think to themselves.

"I still can't believe we went through all of that just to get shown up by Joe Chin." PJ states as he mercilessly pummels Parappa in the video game.

"Yeah, but I want to know why Sunny is still upset." Parappa says while he watches his character get whacked by PJ's character over and over again.

"Hmmm…maybe she found out that you were the one who put that horrible pie in her locker and she's sad because she thought she could trust you, but in reality you've lied to her face." The teddy bear casually blurts out as he finished off Parappa's fighter with a flawless victory.

Parappa gives PJ a near panicky glance, as PJ continues.

"Or maybe there's another reason?" PJ says to save face.

As if on queue, Papa Rappa walks through the door, talking on his cellphone.

"Uh huh…look man, I understand what you're going through. It must be real tough…" Papa says with a melancholy look as he speaks into his phone.

Parappa and PJ pause their game to listen.

"I know Sunny must be devastated huh?…yeah…yeah, I'll tell him…okay…bye." Papa ends his call as he turns his attention to the two boys looking at him with concerned and confused looks.

"That was General Potter…" Parappa's Dad says following with a sigh.

"Dad…what's going on?" Parappa stares at his father with a worried face.

Papa Rappa let out on more deep sigh before letting the news escape his mouth.

"Sunny's Grandmother passed away this morning."


	13. Life at a Funeral, Part 1

It was a cloudy and cool morning as Parappa stared out the passenger seat window, watching the buildings pass by as he adjusted the black beanie on his head.

The newly repaired station wagon drove past the limits of Parappa Town, heading further into the country side that surrounded the peaceful town.

Young little Pinto huffed in boredom from the backseat.

"Are we there yet?" Pinto asks the typical question that children say during car trips.

"Not yet sweetie, soon." The father replies as he pays attention to the road.

The three family members are dressed in black formal clothing, appropriate dress wear for the occasion.

"So…how big did you say this place was again?" The young teen looks to his father with a mix of boredom and slight curiosity.

"Pretty big. Sunny's grandpa is a millionaire, so it's appropriate he and Sunny's late grandma would live in a mansion." Papa explains to his son as he takes a left turn on the country road.

Around 15 minutes pass as a large, white building can be seen resting on top of a bright green hill.

"Whoa…you weren't kidding Dad…" Parappa utters as he stares in awe at the view.

As the car draws nearer to the place, large flower beds, filled with roses, daisies, petunias, and other types of diverse planted flowers surround the mansion.

Several cars are already parked outside the white marble building, with several people who are presumably Sunny's relatives gathered around outside, talking to one another.

After the car was parked, the two puppy siblings wasted no time getting out of the car, relieved to stretch their legs after a long car ride.

"Thank God, we're finally here…" Pinto bemoaned as she walked around the car, getting rid of her pent up energy.

Parappa on the other hand went to go explore the area, seeing if he can find anyone he knows.

Parappa eyed the large marble fountain in one of the rose gardens near the entrance. A constant jet of clear water was shooting straight up into the air, shooting out of a marble rose.

The dog averted his gaze as he heard a familiar voice.

"Yo Parappa!"

The boy turned around to face his best friend PJ, who was wearing a black suit with a white undershirt, with a red bowtie. The bottom of PJ's shirt curved around his chubby belly as he lacked a pair of pants, as usual.

"PJ! S'up dawg?" Parappa hugged his best bro with a smile.

"You're the only person I recognize here man." PJ replies.

"Yeah, I think we're early." Parappa looks around, seeing only some of Sunny's relatives who he doesn't personally know.

"Hey, nice hat!" PJ compliments the pup, pointing at his black hat.

"Oh! Thanks! Nice…uh…" Parappa looks down at PJ's feet.

He was wearing crocs.

"PJ…what are those?" Parappa stares at the bear's horrible footwear.

"Those are my crocs." He simply responds.

"You're…you're wearing crocs to a funeral?" Parappa says nearly stunned by PJ's god awful crocs.

"Hey, it was either these, or my slippies! I couldn't go barefoot to a funeral!" The teddy bear argues.

"Honestly…it probably would have been better if you did." The rapper plainly states.

"Whatever…you're just jealous." PJ says as he crosses his arms.

Before Parappa could respond, he hears a few more familiar voices.

...

"Woooow! Look at this place! It's so amazing!" Katy Kat looks on in awe as she dawns a black dress with a black and white skirt.

"Y-yeah, It's okay I guess." Lammy replies, as she wears a less fancy black dress.

"Oh come on Lammy, it's more than okay!" Katy says in her upbeat manner.

"I know…It's just…I-I don't like funerals…" The awkward lamb rubs the back of her head.

"Nobody does, but we have to look positive! For Sunny!" The cat smiles at Lammy, trying to cheer her up.

The lamb looks at the ground with a sigh.

Katy looks behind her, seeing a certain someone catching up.

"Ma-San, what's the hold up?" Katy asks her short yellow friend.

The mouse walks in a funny way, wearing a black version of her dress and black shoes.

"Ugh, I hate wearing shoes. I can barely walk."

She moans with annoyance as she catches up with the two girls.

"Well going barefoot to a funeral isn't an option Ma-San." Katy looks down at her small friend.

"It should be an option, I don't need shoes." Ma-San frowns as she stumbles a bit.

"Oh you'll be fine!" Katy rolls her eyes as she sees Parappa and PJ approach the girls.

"S'up girls?" Parappa greets the MilkCan girls with a wave.

Katy and Lammy respond with a hello while Ma-San grunts unenthusiastically.

"You two are looking fancy to-" Katy stops mid sentence as she notices PJ's crocs.

"…Oh my god…PJ…" Katy stares at PJ's crocs with a mix of disbelief and embarrassment.

Lammy looks down at PJ's feet as well while Ma-San laughs at the sight.

"Oh come on…it's not that bad…" PJ whines.

"PJ! We're at a funeral! I thought you would at least show enough respect to wear actual shoes!" Katy scolds the embarrassed teddy bear.

"It was either these, or my slippies!" PJ complains.

"Look at Ma-San, she doesn't normally wear shoes either, but she had the decency to buy some before coming here!" Katy looks down at the croc bearing bear.

"I'm starting to think I should have less decency..." Ma-San groans as she feels extremely uncomfortable.

Katy rolls her eyes at the mouse's remark as she moves on from the subject.

"Anyway…how are you guys?" Katy asked the boys.

"Pretty good! Have you seen Sunny?" Parappa says to the cat.

"No, not yet." The blue cat shrugs.

"Well fancy seeing you here."

Parappa and co. turn around to see two boys standing behind them.

"I didn't expect you two to be here." A human boy with brown hair and blue eyes states to Parappa and PJ as he adjusts his red tie with a yellow star emblem on it.

"James? What are you doing here?" PJ asks the taller boy.

"Oskar here was pen pals with the old lady back when he was still living in his old country." James explains.

"Ja, she was so sweet." The timid green puppet mumbled out as he rubs the orange tuft of hair on the top of his head.

"Why are you here then?" Parappa asks James.

"He didn't want to come here alone." The teen shrugs as he adjusts the tie on his black suit.

"What about them?" PJ points to the chubby raccoon and the small purple cat arguing in the background.

"They uh…invited themselves basically." James rolls his eyes.

"Anyway, I-" James glances down at PJ's feet.

"…what…the hell…are you wearing?" James points at PJ's hideous crocs.

PJ sighs as James and Oskar start to snicker at the bear's poor fashion sense.

"Hold on hold on, Leon! Come Look at this!" James calls out to his short purple cat friend.

Leon quits arguing with the raccoon as he makes his way over to James.

"What is it Jamie? I-"

Leon stares at PJ's crocs for a full few seconds before bursting with laughter.

"Ha! Darling, we might as well hold another funeral for your self integrity if you're going to wear crocs."

Leon giggles as the raccoon comes over to join the rest of his friends.

"What's everyone laughing at over here?" He says casually as everyone stares at the raccoon now.

He was wearing a black suit with a red undershirt. Most noticeable was the Christmas themed tie he was wearing, with little reindeers on it.

"Caleb…what the hell is that?" James rests his chin in his hand as he examines the ugly tie.

"Oh give me a break, it's the only tie I have." Caleb whines as he gets flustered by all the laughter.

"Caleb darling, you should put more effort into your wardrobe, like me." Leon adjusts the golden bowtie on his pure white suit and dress pants.

"Leon, you look like you're on your way to lose all your life savings at a blackjack table." Caleb remarks.

"I swear to god you guys are the worst funeral entourage I've ever seen." James waves his hands around, emphasizing the point.

While the banter continues, everyone jumped when General Potter came up behind everyone.

"Hey kids, if you're wondering where Sunny is, she's inside. I know she wants to see all of you." He says in a melancholy state, clear that he is in mourning.

"Oh, thank you." Parappa says as Potter walks away.

"Well, I guess me might as well head in." Katy speaks up as the group of young teens enter the mansion.

"I think General Potter gave your crocs a weird look." Parappa whispers as he laughs to himself, much to the annoyance of PJ.

(A/N: Here's the first part of the funeral arch! This will probably be the best few chapters yet! I have lots of plans for this story, so I hope you all stick around to see Parappa's adventures!)


	14. Life at a Funeral, Part 2

The young teens walk through the beautiful mansion with awe as they examine their surroundings. From the white marble floors, to the floral themed paintings that decorated the walls, and the flowery aroma that lingered in the air, which makes sense as this residence belongs to flower people.

"Wow...everything looks beautiful..." Katy smiles as she looks around.

"Yeah, if I knew Sunny's family was loaded I would've befriended her a long time ago." Ma-San blurts out in her usual dry manor as Katy gives her a glare.

"Pssh, I've been friends with Sunny since Elementary school and I only found out now." Parappa replies to Ma-San's comment as the group of teens enter the courtyard.

It was clear that the funeral service would be held here since their were multiple white chairs facing a vigil with a picture of an old woman with a flower pot for a head in the center of a flowery wreath. That must be Sunny's grandmother.

The only person who was sitting in the chairs was Sunny, who was facing her grandmother's vigil with a somber expression.

"Sunny?" Parappa calls out to the upset girl.

She turns around to face her friends. Instead of her usual warm smiley face, she looked rather sad and sorrowful.

"Hello..." She half heartedly waves at her friends as they approach her.

Katy kneels down to hug her mourning friend. "I'm sorry for your loss Sunny...I really am." Katy gives her condolences as Lammy joins Katy in trying to comfort the flower child.

"I'm sorry too...I'm here for you Sunny." Parappa speaks up, trying his best to console his love interest.

"If I had any donuts left, I would let you have some, but I don't have any left." PJ poorly tries to comfort Sunny in his own way.

"Th-thank you, everyone..." Sunny sniffles as she gives a slight smile at her friend's support.

"Not to interrupt, but...shouldn't there be a casket over there?" James notices the lack of a casket by the vigil.

"That's because there isn't one, human." Everyone turns around to see a woman with a pink tulip for a head. Wearing some kind of formal smock with a sunflower on it, also she was wearing some sort of crown made out of leaves.

"Who are you?" Parappa asks the woman.

"I am Priestess Tulipia. I will be leading the funeral services here." The flower Priestess answers the rapping pup as she turns her attention to the flower girl.

"I am so sorry for your loss, my child. Your grandmother is with The Mother now." Priestess Tulipia genuinely gives her condolences to the girl.

"The Mother?" Katy raises her eyebrow.

"Yes, The Mother. As in Mother Earth. The Mother brought life into our world, making it unique compared to any other. The Mother gave birth to two races. The Flora, which includes me and Sunny here, and the Fauna. Which is all of you." The priestess explains her beliefs to the teens.

"Most of the Fauna have rejected this belief, believing in other religions and theories, while a good many of the Flora, including myself, have stayed loyal to The Mother. Sunny's Grandmother remained loyal, in return, she will be given new life by The Mother." Tulipia continues to explain.

"Okay...that still doesn't answer my question. Shouldn't there be a casket?" James asks the Priestess.

"We Flora don't use caskets. We have a more organic method." She answers the boy directly.

"Organic?" Parappa scratches his head with a confused look

"Yes. Meaning that we take the departed's remains and break it down into a rich, fertile compost. So we can spread it over a garden or perhaps in a forest, where the soil can absorb the nutrients and allow the plants there to grow better." The Preistess finishes explaining as everyone except Sunny silently stares at the woman with wide eyes.

"YOU MULCHED HER GRANDMA?!" Caleb breaks the uneasy silence as he screams in a mixture of shock and disgust.

James quickly puts a hand over the raccoon's mouth to stop him from shouting more.

"I guess that's the simple way to put it, yes." She agrees with Caleb's outburst.

"Yeah...I'm...I'm gonna go for a little walk..." Ma-San walks away from the group, still walking funny with her shoes.

"W-wait! I'll c-come with!" Lammy quickly follows Ma-San, looking slightly disturbed from the Priestess's explanation.

"I'm right behind you Lammy." Katy quickly walks away too as she follows Lammy.

"Let's uh...Let's go look around boys..." James says as he and his friends take off too.

This leaves only Parappa, PJ, and Sunny with the Priestess.

"Well, I must talk to the other family members. See you children later." Tulipia walks away from the remaining teens as she has business to attend too.

After a few moments of silence, Parappa speaks to Sunny again.

"Look Sunny, I'm here for you if you need to-"

Before Parappa could finish his sentence, a loud, confident voice booms out.

"Ah, Sunny! There you are!" Joe Chin approaches Sunny with his usual swagger. He was wearing a Black Tuxedo with a white bowtie.

"Oh...hey Joe." Sunny gloomily greets the rich dog.

"What the heck is he doing here?" Parappa whispers to PJ as Joe continues to talk to the flower girl.

"I just want to say that I am sorry for the loss of your grandmother! She was a very important Shareholder in my family's business!" Joe Chin continues to speak in his overly bold voice, despite the circumstances.

"Uh...yeah...thanks." Sunny still feels sad despite his condolences.

"Anyway! If you ever need cheering up! Joe Chin is always here to help you! Perhaps a cup of Joe Chin brand dark roast coffee can soothe your sorrow?" Joe Chin offers to the flower girl.

"What? Is he really doing this at her grandma's funeral?!" Parappa whispers once more to PJ.

"Uh...no thank you..." Sunny turns down the offer.

"Suit yourself, but just to let you know, Joe Chin will always be here for you in your darkest hours!" With that, Joe confidently walks away.

Parappa and PJ sit down next to Sunny and pat her on the back, trying to comfort her. Parappa watches Joe proudly walk away, giving the rich blonde a small frown. This was going to be a long day.


	15. Life at a Funeral, Part 3

After exiting the courtyard with haste, the chubby raccoon with the unseasonal Christmas tie speed walks down the mansion corridor, clearly distraught.

"This is crazy. This is crazy. This is crazy!" Caleb rambles to himself, not wanting to be there anymore.

"Caleb, slow down!" James calls out to his friend as he, Leon, and Oskar catch up to him.

"Slow down? You want me to slow down?! I'll slow down once I get outta here! You heard that lady, they are going to grind up her grandma! That's not right!" The raccoon freaks out, waving his arms in the air.

"I know it sounds weird, but apparently this is their tradition or something. If the lady wanted her remains scattered over her rosebushes, then I guess I can respect that." James explains to his dramatic friend.

"I don't care if it's tradition! It's still messed up to all hell! We should just bail!" Caleb proposes as he points in the direction of the front entrance.

"W-wait! I do not want to leave! Zat would be s-selfish of me to do so..." Oskar nervously says, wanting to stay.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna leave just because I don't exactly agree with their traditions. Don't you want to be there for Sunny?" James argues with his raccoon friend.

"I barely know her! I only came here because I didn't want to spend the day alone! But seeing how these people like to use dead people as fertilizer, I would rather take my chances at home!" Caleb frowns at his human friend, crossing his arms.

"Then leave then! I won't stop you!" The brown haired teen gestures towards the door.

"...I'm not gonna leave by myself! I'll look like a total jerkwad!" Caleb retorts.

"Well Oskar and I are staying, so you can either stay with us, or go out on your own." James folds his arms as he gives Caleb the ultimatum.

"I...well...what about you Leon? You want to leave too, right?" Caleb looks at the short purple cat.

"Yeah, sorry Jamie, but grinding up corpses is a big red flag for me, I think I'm gonna-" Leon glances to his right mid-sentence as he sees a flower boy with a yellow face and white pedals walking down the hall by himself, looking quite down.

"Well hello there..." Leon whispers to himself with a smile.

"Leon! What were you gonna say?" Caleb snaps Leon out of it, wanting to hear his answer.

"Uhhh...you know what darling? I think I'm gonna agree with Jamie...now if you'll excuse me." Leon walks in the direction of the flower boy as the three friends continue to talk.

"See, even Leon's staying. Now are you gonna stay too, or are you gonna bail?" James questions the raccoon. After a long pause, Caleb finally responds.

"...Fine...I'll stay, but I'm not gonna like it." He reluctantly agrees to stay at the funeral.

"You don't have too, just stay and be polite." James says to the pouty teen.

"If I'm staying, then I'm gonna look for some food." Caleb begins to walk away from the human and green puppet.

"You seriously can't wait until after the funeral?" James calls out to his chubby friend.

"Nope." He simply responds as he disappears around the corner.

James exhales deeply as he runs his hand through his slightly unkempt brown hair.

"Today is going to be a looooong day." The freckled boy rolls his blue eyes in a tired fashion.

"Ja, I hope things won't be so, eh...dramatic...hoffentlich..." Oskar mumbles in his usual quiet tone.

"A-anyway, I just want to say...thank you for coming with me today..." The green puppet thanks his friend as he rubs his arm.

"Yeah...don't mention it." James replies as he looks down to the floor, clearly somewhat distraught over something.

"James? Is...Is something ze matter?" The foreign puppet asks with concern.

"I just...I just really...hate...funerals." James answers as he stares off into the distance, deep in his thoughts.

...

Leon follows the flower boy into the dining hall, where several other people are talking amongst themselves, but the boy doesn't seem to want to talk to anyone, as he simply sits down in one of the chairs with a sigh, burying his face in his hands. Leon decides to make his move.

"Why Hello darling~"

The flower lifts his head out of his hands to see the short purple cat, smiling at the boy.

"Oh...uh...hello..." The saddened flower greets him in a soft, light voice.

"You seem upset, what's the matter hun?" Leon takes a seat right next to him as the flower looks down to the floor with a melancholy expression.

"Oh...well...my grandma passed away..." The upset boy wipes a tear from his eyes as he lets out a little sniffle.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that darling...I really am." Leon puts his hand on the boy's shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Wait, wouldn't that mean you're Sally's brother?" The purple feline asks the white petal flower with a raised eyebrow.

"Huh? Y-you mean Sunny? No, no I'm her cousin." He answers the cat as he rubs his arm in an awkward fashion.

"Oh, well, anyway...let me introduce myself." Leon scoots closer to the boy as he smiles, with his two white fangs extruding from his mouth as usual.

"My name is Leonidas, but you can call me Leon~" The purple cat playfully winks at the floral boy.

"Oh...I'm...I'm Dandy..." He introduces himself with a stutter, feeling a little nervous.

"Dandy...that's a pretty name~ I have a feeling we're going to get along quite nicely~" Leon flashes a smile as he lets out a playful giggle.

...

"I can't believe Joe Chin would try to hit on Sunny at her own Grandma's funeral!" Parappa throws his arms up as he and PJ walk up the white, marble staircase with a red velvet carpet covering the steps.

"He must really like Sunny I guess." PJ shrugs as he looks at Parappa with his usual sleepy gaze.

"No duh! But at least I wouldn't flirt with her here! That isn't right, you know." Parappa rants to his best friend.

"Joe's one of the rich kids who can't see past their own ego." PJ explains as they reach the top of the steps.

"Yeah, someone ought a teach him some respect." Parappa says before he and PJ stop in their tracks as they see Joe Chin down the hallway, looking at an old antique decorative mirror as he adjusts his bowtie, grinning his trademark confident smile.

The two boys stand their quietly for a couple seconds before Parappa speaks up.

"I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind." Parappa blurts out as he frowns at Joe.

"What?" PJ turns to Parappa, hearing what he just said.

"I'm gonna tell him off PJ, someone has to do it." Parappa responds as he clenches his fists.

"B-but, he's a lot bigger than you Parappa, what if he gets mad?" PJ speaks in a concerned tone as he's worried about Parappa's brash decision.

"Then I guess I'll get mad too...stay here PJ, I'll be right back." Parappa makes a b-line towards the rich blonde, leaving the worried teddy bear behind.

"Yo Joe." The aspiring rapper calls out to the wealthy teen.

The larger dog glances to his right, seeing the smaller dog approach him.

"Oh, hello Parappa! What can Joe Chin do for you?" Joe smiles at the pup with the prideful smirk he almost always has on his face.

"Do you mind if the two of us talk, in private?" Parappa gestures to the room beside them, not wanting to be seen by other people when he has his little talk with Chin.

"Why of course!" Parappa and Joe head into the room, with the young rapper closing the door behind them.

The room appeared to be some sort of Study, belonging to Sunny's grandfather. There were pictures of him all around the darkened room, the only light in there was the sunlight, which was seeping through the thick window curtains, illuminating the dust particles floating inside the thin beams of light. The pictures included the grandfather with other business men, him and a much younger General Potter, back when he was just a boy, and other import times from his life. Most notably was the trophy shelf on the wall opposite of the door, where several small trophies were placed, with a giant golden trophy in between them, with it being at least a couple feet tall.

"So...Joe, back in the courtyard, when you were talking to Sunny..." Parappa begins to speak.

"Ah yes, poor Sunny. If there is one person in this world who can put that lovely smile back on her face, it will be me, Joe Chin!" Joe proudly states as he puts his hands on his hips, striking some kind of confident pose.

"Yeah...anyway, it looked like you were hitting on her back there..." Parappa continues to speak in a more serious tone.

"Well, that's one way you could put it, haha!" Joe laughs a hearty laugh as Parappa face grows more red, with increasing anger.

"Why?" Parappa says through gritted teeth.

"Well Parappa, I have a little plan. You see, Sunny is in an emotional and fragile state, she needs someone strong, supportive, and manly to be with in her darkest times. That, my little friend, is where I come in! With Sunny in her saddened state, she is much more likely to be needing someone who can love and care for her than she normally would. That someone, will be none other than Joe Chin!" The rich blonde finishes explaining his plan to Parappa with a proud smile.

Parappa could barely believe it. Joe Chin honestly believes that he's in the right on this. He thinks he's the hero in this. Parappa is enraged at this point, his face seething with pure anger. Parappa finally gives him a piece of his mind.

"You honestly believe that hitting on her in her most vulnerable time is gonna make her love you?! What kind of man would do that?!" Parappa rants to the bigger dog.

Joe chin finally notices Parappa's angry behavior, as he drops his usual cheerful attitude.

"What are you trying to say?" Joe raises his eyebrow at the pup as his smile fades away.

"What I'm saying, is that you aren't a real man!" Parappa menacingly points at the larger blonde.

Joe is taken back at the insult, after a few moments, he glares down at the smaller dog, moving closer to him.

"You think I'm not a real man huh? Well look here boy, I'm strong, tall, smart, and rich, while you are weak, short, stupid, and poor. Now tell me again who's not a real man." Joe frowns at Parappa as he tries to intimidate him by look down on him.

Parappa has completely lost his cool, as he is completely red with rage as he clenches his fists as tight as he can.

"What are you going to do pipsqueak? What are you-" As Joe was speaking, Parappa bolted at Joe as fast as he could. Before Joe could react, Parappa dropped his shoulder into the rich teen's gut, sending him flying into the wall behind him.

Before Joe could retaliate, the large golden trophy falls off the shelf due to the force of Joe's impact on the wall and hits Joe on the top of the head with a sickening "thunk".

Joe instantly collapses onto the floor, motionless.

Parappa stares at the unmoving dog with shock and disbelief as PJ quickly comes through the door.

"Parappa! I heard a loud bang! Are you-" PJ stares at the scene with widened eyes, a look that almost never appears on the teddy bear's face.

The two boys continue to silently stare at the fallen juvenile millionaire, unsure on how to react.


	16. Life at a Funeral, Part 4

Parappa and PJ stand still and silent as they see Joe's body, laying motionless on the ground with a wound on the top of his head. Parappa begins to tremble as he realizes the severity of the situation.

"Parappa...what...what did you do?!" The frightened teddy bear looks over to the rapper with panicking eyes.

"I...I...I-" This was all the short, nicely dressed pup could mumble, as he is rendered speechless with fear.

"Parappa! A-ANSWER ME!" PJ grabs a hold of the catatonic dog, shaking him as hard as he could, hoping to snap Parappa out of it.

"I...I...He t-told me he was t-trying to hit on Sunny, and I-I got angry, and he got angry..." Parappa shivers more now as tears well up in his eyes.

"I...I couldn't control m-myself...I hit him against the wall, a-and that big trophy fell down and hit him o-on the head...He isn't moving!" Parappa breaks down sobbing as he falls to his knees, PJ kneels down and hugs his distraught friend, trying to frantically comfort him, despite knowing how bad the situation is. The teddy bear shoots a quick look at Joe, who is still laying in the same position as when he first came in the room. He could see a little bit of blood seeping out of the wound on his head, his golden blonde hair only highlights the crimson liquid.

"I...I don't think...he's...he's...I can't see him breathing..." PJ says as he holds onto his crying best friend.

"Oh God...I didn't mean to PJ!...I didn't-"

"Shhhh...I believe you buddy...I believe you..." PJ calms down Parappa a little as he rocks back and forth with the pup still in his arms. Teddy Bears always had an instinct to comfort things, PJ was no different.

"...I'm pretty sure I was the only one to hear that bang...so I'm pretty sure we're in the clear..." PJ states as he looks at the door, noticing that no one else has come to investigate the noise.

"Th-that doesn't matter! They'll come up here soon enough, and when they see Joe...I'm gonna g-go to Jail..." Parappa sniffles, knowing that he may spend the rest of his days behind bars.

"No you won't Parappa! Listen to me..." PJ turns Parappa's head to face his. The Teddy Bear's fear has left his face, being replaced by a stoic look, in stark contrast of Parappa's teary eyes and snotty nose.

"I won't let them take you away...I won't." PJ rests his forehead on Parappa's. The upset dog quickly gives PJ as strong hug, who in return gives Parappa a strong hug of his own.

"What are we going to do?" Parappa asks his best friend, having calmed down greatly thanks to his comforting.

PJ pauses as he thinks to himself, after a few seconds, he gives an answer.

"There's only one thing we can do...we have to hide the body."

...

"So...Dandy...how old are you?" Leon asks the flower in his usual smooth voice, resting his head on his hand as he leans on the dining room table.

"Uh...I'm 14..." Dandy answers, feeling nervous and awkward.

"Ooooh. You're the same age as me~ Hehe...how comes you don't go to Parappa Town High?" Leon giggles as he smiles at the boy.

"I go t-to Hanging Gardens...it's a...a private school...for Flora's only. It's like t-ten mile North of here..." Dandy tugs one of his white pedals on his head, as a nervous tick.

"Ooooh~ I guess if you go there, I might change schools hehe~" The short purple feline rubs his hand through his black hair as he continues to smile.

"But...but you aren't a Flora..." Dandy stutters.

"I can be anything you want me to be~" Leon winks at the uncomfortable flower boy.

"Leon!"

Leon and Dandy quicly turn around to see a frowning human boy with folded arms, with a green puppet facepalming himself behind him.

"Oh...uh...Hey there Jamie...hehe..." Leon nervously smiles at his unhappy friend.

"Can I speak to you? In private." James says to cat, in a way where he isn't really asking him at all, but telling him.

"Oh...uh...sure. See ya darling." Leon waves goodbye to the flower boy as James rolls his eyes. He takes Leon firmly but not forcefully by the arm and takes him to the hallway, with Oskar following close behind. Dandy sighs a breath of relief as Leon leaves the room.

When the three boys are alone in the hall, Leon freaks out.

"Jamie! What's wrong with you?! I was talking to my friend!" Leon points at the taller human with a angry look.

"Don't "Jamie" me! I know you were flirting with that kid! I'm not an idiot!" James argues with the feline as Oskar watches his two friends argue with unease, hating the confrontation.

"Well I...okay! I was! But he was cute!"

"He is at his Grandma's funeral! Do you know how much of a tool you look like when you're hitting on someone who's mourning?!"

Leon looks down to the floor, feeling embarrassed now.

"I'm sorry darling..."

James puts his hand on the feline's shoulder, who in return blushes a tiny bit. Leon looks at the floor make sure James doesn't see it.

"It's okay...look...I take funerals...seriously..." James explains in an uncomfortable fashion.

"Just...don't do anything else that will seem impolite okay?" James pleads to his friend as he eases up his attitude.

"Okay..." Leon sighs as he walks towards the courtyard.

James walks down the hall the opposite way, with Oskar following behind closely.

"First Caleb freaks out and threatens to leave, then Leon hits on some kid who may or may not also be gay, who is attending his grandmother's funeral, now I'm worried about what you're gonna do." The teens says as he looks over to the green puppet.

"What?! B-but I'm not like zat! I-I-"

"Relax man, I'm only joking." James gives a small half-smile at his friend.

"Oh..." Oskar looks awkwardly at the floor.

The two teens enter the foyer as James glances up at the second floor balcony, right next to the staircase. He briefly sees PJ's head, who in return quickly disappears back into the upstairs hallway. James raises his eyebrow at this, knowing PJ usually isn't the sneaky type.

...

PJ returns to the Study as Parappa paces back and forth around the room, pulling his beanie over his eyes in worry.

"Okay, so there's a few people at the bottom of the stairs, so we can't take the body out that way." PJ says as he closes the door behind him.

Parappa lets out a small whimper as he worries some more.

"W-well...what about these windows?" Can't we...you know...just throw him outside?" Parappa suggests, clearly running low on ideas.

PJ pulls open the curtains and looks out the window. Shaking his head as he does so.

"We can't man. There's people out there." He says much to Parappa's dismay.

"Well we don't have a lot of options PJ! We need to do something!" Parappa yells, clearly getting desperate.

PJ shushes the dog in an attempt to keep his voice down. "Dude, calm down, I-"

"Don't tell me to calm down! It's easy for you to calm down! You're not the one who's about to go to prison for the rest of his life!" Parappa shouts at the teddy bear, starting to tear up.

"I can't lose you! Please!" PJ starts to get emotional as a tear rolls down his face.

"PJ...I-"

Before Parappa could finish his sentence, the door behind them creaks open. Parappa and PJ quickly turn around to face James and Oskar. The two boys in the doorway almost immediately notice the young eccentric millionaire laying on the floor, with a noticeable head wound. James stares at the body with wide eyes as Oskar looks near catatonic. James quickly looks towards Parappa and PJ, with the same shocked expression.

"Look...Just hear me ou-" Parappa gets interrupted as Oskar starts screaming and panicking, clearly frightened by the scene.

"Shut him up! Shut him up!" Parappa starts to panic too, scared that the screaming puppet will attract unwanted attention.

PJ rushes over to the hysterical Oskar and gives him a big hug, attempting to calm him down. For the most part, this works. Oskar quits screaming, but the look of fear is still plastered on his face.

James approaches the body slowly, examining it with his own eyes.

"What the hell...is that Joe Chin? What...what happened?!" He looks over to Parappa, bewildered by the sight in front of him, although not panicking as much as his friend.

"L-look, I can explain! Joe and I h-had an argument about h-how he was flirting w-with Sunny earlier, and we got into a fight, and that trophy fell on his head! I didn't do it! You gotta believe me!" Parappa explains himself, talking as fast as he could.

"Please don't call the cops, or tell anyone else! I can't go to jail man, I can't!" Parappa gets on his knees and begs the shocked human.

"I...Jeez...I knew he wanted your crush, but I didn't expect you to freaking murder him over it." James states as he stares at Joe.

"But I didn't-...Wait...how did you know I liked Sunny?" Parappa asks him mid-sentence.

James looks over to PJ, who is still trying to comfort the green puppet. Parappa gives PJ a glare while the bear shrugs with his free arm.

"Look, James...you...you have to help me, please! I need to hide the body, before someone else finds out!" Parappa begs James for his help.

"What?! No...James we have to tell someone! Zis is...Zis is..." Oskar frantically blurts out as he breaks out of the bear's hug, not wanting to have anything to do with Parappa's plan.

"You're not telling no one!" PJ threatens the already scared puppet, who looks even more terrified now.

"God...what do you want me to do?! If I get involved, I could go to jail too!" James explains in a worried fashion.

"Look, I'll...I'll give you all my money, I'll give you anything you want, I beg you!" Parappa grabs onto James's suit, desperate for help.

"Okay! I'll help!" James pushes the dog off his suit, readjusting his tie.

"I don't like zis..." Oskar mumbles as he takes a seat in the corner of the room.

"You wanna hide the body, right? Well..." James puts his hand on his chin, deep in thought. Parappa and PJ stare at him in suspense.

James finally looks up, having an idea. He sighs before beginning to speak.

"You remember when the Priestess said something about...mulching..."

"No...no! You can't be serious!" Parappa realizes James's plan, opposing it with a look of disgust.

"Look, it's the only way! If we can somehow get the body to the machine that...you know...makes compost...we might be able to add it with Sunny's Grandmother's remains...It's a long shot, but it's the only damn shot you have!" James explains, clearly stressed out.

"I...okay...fine..." Parappa sighs, defeated. "What will I need to do?"

"Uh...I guess we gotta find out where that thing even is. You should go talk to The Priestess, she most likely knows." James instructs the rapper.

"...Why do I have to do it?!" Parappa throws his arms in the air, not wanting to do it.

"Well PJ's too busy calming Oskar down. Oskar's to busy being scared out of his mind, which is understandable, and I gotta make sure no one wanders up here. Now unless you want to get sentenced to life, I would go find that Priestess! Now move!" James pushes Parappa towards the door, before he leaves, James calls out to him.

"Oh, and one more thing, don't go down there and say "Yo, where can I grind up Joe Chin's dead corpse!?"" James says in his best Parappa impersonation. "Don't say anything that will attract attention either, just be low profile!"

Parappa nods before hurrying out of the room.

"This is the second worst funeral I've ever been to..." James sighs as he runs his hand through his hair.

...

"These people are insane." Ma-San bluntly says to Katy as she pops off her uncomfortable footwear while sitting on a bench. The three MilkCan girls found themselves in a small indoor greenhouse, which there are plenty of these kinds of rooms throughout the mansion. With flowers and fruits and vegetable plants all growing inside them.

"It may be weird, but it's their culture! They aren't hurting no one! And we have to support Sunny no matter what! She needs us!" Katy argues with the mouse, who in return rolls her eyes.

As the two girls argue as usual, Lammy looks out the window on the other side of the room, looking at the large flowerbeds that decorate the Mansion lawn. The lamb looks down at her black, formal dress and deeply sighs.

"I hate funerals..." Lammy says out loud, in a depressed manner. Katy and Ma-San notice this and approach the red haired guitarist.

"Is something wrong Lammy?" Katy asks the lamb as she puts her and on her shoulder.

"I just...have a bad experience...w-with funerals..." Lammy continues to stare out the window, trying to clear her head. Katy and Ma-San share a look of concern with each other before looking at Lammy again.

"You wanna talk about it Lammy?" The blue feline rubs the lamb's back, trying to comfort her.

"I-I'd rather not..." Lammy utters while looking off into the horizon.

"Okay..." Katy looks out the window with her, concerned over her best friend. A moment later, a rather worried looking Parappa runs by the doorway.

"What was that?" Ma-San quickly looks over towards the doorway.

"Probably nothing important." Katy answers back as she continues to comfort Lammy.

...

Parappa runs past several of Sunny's relatives, in a desperate search for the Flora Priestess. He finally finds her outside behind the house, giving her condolences to General Potter. Parappa quickly approaches her as General Potter heads back inside.

"Excuse me! Priestess!" He calls out to the woman. She turns her head, looking at the dog in her usual stoic gaze.

"What is it, canine?" She looks towards the dog, who is gasping for breath.

"Heyyy Priestess, I uh...I have a question for you." Parappa tries a little to hard to play it cool.

"Hmmm...yes?" She stares at the dog in her unchanging gaze.

Parappa can feel the Priestess's gaze on him, as if she staring right into his soul.

"Hehe...okay, so...You remember when you said how you turn your people's dead into...erm...organic compost?" Parappa sweats nervously as she continues to stare at him.

"I do." She answer, unflinching.

"Hehe, well...I was wondering...where do you do it at? I mean, do you do it somewhere here, or..." He looks at Priestess Tulipia, waiting for an answer.

"Hm, well canine, we don't do it here at this mansion if that's what you are asking. We prepare our dead at the Saint Season Cathedral, near Hanging Gardens." She answers without changing her demeanor, still looking down at the dog.

"...how far is that from here?" He asks the Flora, nervous.

"Ten Miles North." She simply says.

"Oh...thank you." He quickly turns and runs away, not liking the news the Priestess gave him.

"Don't forget, the service starts in twenty minutes." She calls out to the dog, who in return screams.

"Hmm...those Fauna are strange creatures." Tulipia says to herself before going back to what she was doing.

...

Oskar quietly mumbles to himself as PJ rubs his back, all the while James keeps a look out by the doorway.

"Here comes Parappa, and he looks...oh no." James utters as he gets out of the way.

Parappa comes running into the room, out of breath. "They don't do it here! They do it ten miles away from here!" Parappa explains as he wheezes for air.

"Crap...can we get to that place in time?" James asks the dog as PJ and Oskar look at each other with concern.

"We can't! The funeral service starts in twenty minutes!" Parappa nearly cries out, desperate for a way out.

"Oh man...okay...it's time for plan B." James says as he thinks of another idea.

"What's Plan B?" Parappa raises his eyebrow.

"Oskar, help me pick up Joe." James says as he approaches the body.

"Nein! It's so...gross..." Oskar whimpers.

"Just do it!" James yells, not wanting to hear excuses.

Oskar reluctantly helps James pick up Joe, where it looks like he's standing. Joe's head slouches down as the boys pick him up.

"PJ, you have your shades with you?" The human boy looks at the teddy bear.

"Yeah." PJ pulls out his DJ shades from his suit pocket.

James takes the sunglasses and puts it on Joe.

"Okay, now everyone grab a hold of Joe, we're heading to the stairs." Parappa and PJ take a hold of Joe too as the four boys carry the lifeless, sunglass wearing Joe Chin out into the hallway. As they reach the steps, James looks down from the balcony.

"Okay we're clear. Move move!" He instructs as the four boys reach the top of the steps.

"On the count of three, we push him down the steps. That way people will think he died falling down the stairs, which will explain the head wound. Okay? Now here we go. One...two...three!" The four boys shove Joe down the staircase, his body tumbling down in a very awkward fashion.

"JOE LOOK OUT!" James yells as loud as he can, to get attention.

"Oh! Uh...OH MY GOD JOE! NOOOOOO!" Parappa joins in on the yelling, pretending to be a witness.

"HE WAS S-SO YOUNG!" Oskar chimes in.

"OH NO! REST IN PEACE JOE!" PJ yells out.

Joe finally reaches the bottom of the steps as everyone gathers around to investigate the commotion. Everyone gasps as they see Joe laying at the bottom of the steps.

"It was awful! He fell down the steps, and before we could catch up to him, he-" Parappa begins to explain to the crowd when something he didn't expect happened.

Joe was starting to get up.

"Oh...my head...my handsome, perfect head..." Joe groggily says as he gets up.

The crowd of people sigh a breath of relief as the other four boys stand in total shock.

"I thought you said he was dead." James seethed as he harshly whispered to Parappa.

"I thought so too!" He whispers back, still shocked.

"Did you check his pulse?!"

"Uhhh..." Parappa realizes his own stupidity as he became aware of one thing.

Joe was gonna tell everyone what happened.

Priestess Tulipia and General Potter ran to the front of the crowd. "What in The Mother's name happened here?!" Potter looks at the injured Joe.

Parappa was paralyzed with fear, scared of what Joe was gonna say.

"I...I...uh...frankly, I do not remember...which is...quite strange since I have the best memory of all, believe me."

It was nice to see that Joe didn't lose his personality.

The last thing I remember was using the upstairs washroom." Joe simply shrugs to the General.

"You are bleeding canine, here, let me take care of you...afterwards, we shall begin the funeral service." Priestess Tulipia takes Joe Chin as the crowd disperses. MilkCan approaches Parappa and the boys soon after.

"Parappa! What the heck happened?" Katy asks the still shocked pup.

"I...even this is hard to believe..." Parappa simply explains, shellshocked.


	17. Life at a Funeral, Part 5

The sun was hanging at the top of the sky as the morning transitioned to the afternoon. The mansion courtyard was filled with dozens of people, all wearing formal attire as they all took a seat facing the vigil. The bright green grass and beautiful flower beds were a stark contrast against the melancholy atmosphere. Sunny and her family sat at the front of the seats, being immediate family members to the deceased grandmother.

As Parappa was walking towards the back of the crowd, to where his family was sitting, Sunny called out to him.

"Parappa...wait." She reached her hand out towards the dog, with her sullen expression still present on her face.

"Yeah Sunny?" Parappa stopped in his tracks as he glanced towards her.

"I would really appreciate it if you sat next to me..." Sunny looks at Parappa, in need of support.

"...Yeah, no problem Sunny." The pup took a seat between Sunny and her father. The flower girl gave Parappa a small smile, as a way to say thank you.

Parappa gave her a smile of his own, trying his best to support her through this difficult time. Parappa turned his head, seeing his family and friends sitting a few rows back. PJ waves at the rapper with a little silly smile. Parappa lightens up a bit as he gives PJ a little wave as well. The rapping dog turns his head around, where he sees Joe Chin sitting at the edge of the row. Joe has a bandage wrapped around his head, covering up the wound from earlier. Even though Joe is shining his prideful smile, you can tell that he's concussed. The rich dog keeps looking over at Sunny, and then back at Parappa. A hint of jealousy briefly crosses the blonde's face before returning to his default expression. Parappa turns back around, thinking to himself, hoping that Joe never regains the memory of what happened earlier.

Before Parappa can get a chance to worry any longer, the murmuring of silent conversations amongst the funeral goers falls silent as Priestess Tulipia makes her way to the front of the vigil. The tall flower woman turns towards everyone, her smock swaying with her movements as the sunlight reflects off of the golden parts of her crown. Everyone gives their attention to the tulip as she is about to speak.

"Ladies, gentlemen, boys and girls. We are all children of The Mother. As her children, we come to mourn the loss of one of our own. Both Flora, and even Fauna has come to pay their respects to our late sister." Tulipia begins her speech as she motions towards the old woman's photo, which lies in the center of the vigil.

"Mrs. Lumiera Potter. She entered our world on July 19th, 1941..."

As the Priestess continued her speech, going over the departed's life, Sunny looked towards the ground with sadness in her eyes. The General's usual stoic look he dons every other day is gone, being replaced by a somber look as he stares at his deceased mother's photo in the vigil, and Dandy is already starting to tear up as he wipes his eyes with his sleeve. As Parappa was listening to the Priestess's speech, Sunny gently takes a hold of the dog's hand. Parappa turns to look at the sentimental flower, who briefly looks at Parappa with tears welling up in her eyes before looking back down at the ground. Unlike what Joe Chin would have done, Parappa respectfully comforts his mourning friend as he continues to hold her hand.

"...Lumiera married her childhood friend at the age of 18, and went on to have five healthy children, and eventually 6 grandchildren. Today, Mrs. Potter's youngest son would like to say a few words to pay his respects to his Mother." Tulipia says as she motions for General Potter to come up. The General lets out a deep sigh before walking up to the vigil.

"I can say that, growing up...I was a bit of a Momma's boy." Potter smiles to himself to ease the mood.

"I was the kind of kid that when Dad would say no, I would run to ask Mom to see if she would say yes, haha...anyway...My Father always wanted me to join the family business, he would always say that his father took over for his father, and so on so on. I never really wanted that...I didn't want to run some big company, kicking my feet back in some office for the rest of my life. I always wanted to do something excited, to travel the world, to see some action! I wanted to join the military! My Dad would always lecture me about how Floras aren't meant for the army, and that we should leave the fighting to the faunas, since he said that was all they were good for...uh...his words, not mine." Potter corrected himself, looking at the non plant people in the crowd, primarily Parappa.

"I was about to give up on my dream, until Mom convinced me otherwise. She wanted me to be happy, and said that I should follow my own path. Well, I took her advice, and now I'm a general in the Rodney State Army Corps." Potter smiles once again as spirits are slightly lifted amongst the crowd.

"Rest easy Mom." The General says his goodbyes to his Mother before sitting back down in his seat. Sunny was almost completely crying at this point, as a few sniffles could be heard among the crowd.

"That was a lovely speech." Priestess Tulipia compliments Potter as she walks to the vigil once more.

As time went on, several more of Lumiere's family members said their goodbyes. Some were light hearted, while others were very melancholy. Parappa tried his best to comfort Sunny, who was almost sobbing now. General Potter gave his daughter a hug, trying to calm the young teenager.

"Is there anyone else here who would like to pay their respects to Mrs. Potter?" The Priestess asks, in case anyone else wants to say their peace.

"Actually...I would, Priestess..." Sunny raises her hand, wanting to say her goodbyes.

"Very well, you may come up, my child." Tulipia makes way for the young flower.

Sunny let go of Parappa's hand as she slowly stepped up to the front of the vigil. She turned to face the crowd, looking both sad and nervous at the same time. She saw her parents, who nodded for her to go on. Then she looked at Parappa and the rest of her friends, who did the same. Finally, she looked up at the tall Priestess standing off to the side.

"Go on, young one." Tulipia nods with approval. Sunny nods back as she begins to speak.

"G-growing up, my Grammy was a big part of my l-life...Every time we would come visit, she would bake cookies, tell me stories, play games, and she even let me help her outside with her gardens." Sunny sniffles as she continues to talk.

"She was so nice...she helped me out whenever I was having any problems, and she would always give the best advice too." Sunny rubs her arm as she looks back at the vigil.

"Not too long before she passed away...she told me...she told me that every time I would tend to some flowers, or every time I plant a tree, that she would smile d-down at me..." Sunny covered her face with her hands as she began to sob.

Most of the crowd reacted to this just as emotionally. A lot of her family members were starting to shed tears of their own.

Lammy was sobbing too, where Katy pulled her into a hug to calm her down.

Leon rubs Oskar's back as the puppet's emotions got the better of him as he started to cry as well.

"Geez...this is getting kinda depressing...don't you think?" Caleb whispers to James as he turns to him.

"Just shut up Caleb." James sighs as he looks away, thinking about the past.

"I-I'll miss you Grammy..." Sunny cries before quickly returning to her seat, where her parents, Parappa, PJ, and the MilkCan girls came over to comfort the mourning flower girl.

...

The funeral was coming to an end as the main service finally concluded after Sunny's very emotional speech. All the funeral goers were saying goodbye to each other, as well as sharing some much deserved laughs and smiles with each other too.

"Well...at least no one actually died...or got arrested." James says to Parappa as he and the other Tech Club members get into the human boy's car.

"Yeah...that's a plus I guess." Parappa rubs the back of his neck, thinking of the stressful events from earlier.

"Come on James, I wanna go to Chunky Burger." Caleb whines from the passenger seat of the car.

"For God's sake Caleb are you nine? I'm talking here!" James turns around to yell at his hungry, impatient friend. The brown haired boy turns around as he keeps his voice down.

"Look Parappa, for your sake, you better hope that he never remembers. Because if he does, he could make your life a living hell." James says matter-of-factly to the young rapper.

"Yeah...I know..." Parappa looks to the ground with a slightly worried expression.

"Look, James, I still owe you for helping me out today, if there's anything I could help you with, let me know." The rapper explains to the freckled teen.

"If something comes up, I'll let you know, believe me. Now we got to go before Caleb decides to cannibalize Oskar."

"What?!" Oskar panics a bit after hearing that remark.

"I'm joking!" James looks back at the green Puppet.

"Later Parappa." Parappa waves goodbye as the car drives down the pathway.

The dog makes his way over to Sunny, where Joe Chin is in the middle of a monologue.

"...Just know, that if you ever need support from a true friend, Joe Chin is here for you!" He proudly smiles at the flower.

"Uhm...Thank you..." Sunny quietly thanks the bandaged dog as he proudly struts off to his extremely long car.

"Hey Sunny, you feeling okay?" Parappa greets the flower, genuinely concerned for her.

"Oh! Hi Parappa. Yeah, I'm okay now." Sunny smiles a bit at Parappa's concern.

"Look Parappa, I just want to say thanks for being there for me today." Sunny says as she puts a hand on his shoulder. Parappa blushes at this.

"Heh...no problem." He smiles at Sunny in his usual supportive demeanor.

"I'll see you later Parappa, take care." Sunny pulls Parappa in for a hug before she departs.

"You too..." Parappa says as she walks away. Just then, Katy and PJ approach the dog.

"Parappa, is PJ telling the truth? Did you almost kill Joe Chin?!" Katy asks the dog with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah...it's a long story." Parappa simply says.

Katy looks around the place before leaning into Parappa's ear.

"Well, if PJ is telling the truth about what Joe tried to do today, I would have killed him too." The feline whispers into her friends ear, understanding where Parappa came from in that situation.

"Anyway, I gotta take the girls home, see you tomorrow!" Katy hugs both Parappa and PJ before taking off.

Parappa and PJ stare at each other for an awkward few seconds before the teddy bear speaks up.

"I can use a nap." PJ simply says.

"...me too." Parappa abruptly agrees.

Parappa cannot imagine how anything can be more dramatic than this day. Little does he know, soon things will only get crazier.

(A/N: This concludes the Funeral arch! I hope you all enjoyed it! Feel free to tell me your thoughts on my story so far!)


	18. Theatre Girl, Part 1

It was an cool September Afternoon at Parappa Town High, and most students are all gathering into the school cafeteria for their daily lunchtime routine.

"Hey guys, my sister lost her doll a few days ago. Have you guys seen it?" Parappa asks his friends as they all sit at their usual lunch table.

"Yeah, I broke into your house and stole it." Ma-San sarcastically replies as she eats some of her homemade ramen she brought in for lunch.

"Very funny." Parappa glares at the mouse. "But seriously, have you guys seen it?"

"Parappa, how would we possibly know where it is? It's probably underneath your sofa or something." Matt Major says as he rest his head in his hand.

"Trust me, I already checked all around my house! It's like it got up and walked out." Parappa waves his arms around in frustration. Accidentally bumping into PJ, who doesn't react because he's taking a nap.

"That's silly Parappa, it's probably around somewhere at your home." Sunny smiles at the worked up dog as she takes a bite of her garden salad.

Parappa quickly changes his tone after seeing Sunny smile at him. "Hehe...you're probably right..." Parappa blushes as he looks at the ground, feeling love-struck.

"Hey, uh...guys? H-has anyone seen Katy?" Lammy questions her friends as she looks at the empty seat next to her, which is usually occupied by her blue best friend.

"She's probably checking herself out with the bathroom mirror." Ma-San says, poking fun at the cat's mild narcissism.

Lammy looks down at her small friend, who looks back up in response.

"...or she's puking up a hairball." Ma-San comments as everyone stops eating simultaneously over the gross remark.

"Oh my gosh! Ma-San!" Lammy covers her face with her hands in embarrassment as Ma-San lets out a small chuckle.

As if on queue, Katy enters the cafeteria and runs up to her friend's table with an excited look on her face.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late!" Katy says as she sits down in her seat with a wide grin on her face.

"H-hey Katy! I was starting to worry hehe..." Lammy greets her friend with a cute little blush.

"You seem happier than usual...well, more happy I guess." Ma-San says as she is the first to notice her upbeat vibes.

"I'm glad you noticed! I actually have some awesome news!" Katy beams as her pearly white teeth shine as she smiles.

"What is it?" Parappa asks curiously.

"I signed up for the school play!" The blue cat laughs as she feels near euphoric in her happiness.

"Whoa, that's awesome!" Parappa smiles at the news.

"Yeah! That sounds really nice!" Sunny congratulates her as well.

"You always did like acting." Matt chimes in as he scratches his blonde short hair.

"Oh wow, I-I'm really happy for you Katy!" Lammy smiles at her friend, still blushing.

"Awww, thanks you guys! This is gonna be my first play as a high schooler! This is gonna be awesome!" Katy laughs as she puts a hand on Lammy's shoulder, who in return blushes heavily.

"Just remember when they say "Break a leg", they don't actually mean it." Ma-San speaks up after she sips her tea.

"Ma-San!" Katy glares at the short mouse, who shrugs in return.

"Anyway! The first rehearsal is tonight! I have a feeling that this is going to be so cool!" Katy shouts with glee as her friends show support.

...

It was around four o'clock in the afternoon, everyone has went home for the day except for Katy and a few other students, who were there for the first play rehearsal.

"Oh man, I'm so excited!" The blue cat says to one of the other students as they all waited on the school auditorium stage.

A second later, the main doors to the auditorium swing open. Everyone stares at the figure walking into the auditorium with a cocky strut. The person was an anthropomorphic shark, dressed in a blue long sleeved shirt with white sleeves and a fish emblem in the center, and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans. The shark had orange hair, which was combed back, and a raised eyebrow which made him look self centered.

"No need to worry everyone, your star actor has arrived." He says with snooty confidence as he does a dramatic bow.

Katy face palmed herself at the sight of this. She already knew who this guy is. It was Athens Darkwater. A notorious narcissist in her grade who loves theatre. She should have known he would sign up too.

Athens takes a moment to examine the few other students in front of him.

"Hmm, it seems that we're short on actual talent this year." The shark rolls his eyes as everyone including Katy looks offended by his remark.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katy frowns at the boy, crossing her arms.

"It means that it appears like I'm going to be the only talented actor in this production." Athens waves off his hand as he answers.

"Says you, I'm gonna be great out there!" Katy retorts, not liking his attitude.

"Ha! You wish! Since you're dressed up like a circus tent, the only acting you'll be good at is being a clown." Athens laughs as he points out Katy's red and white striped clothing.

Katy balls up her fists is fury, desperately wanting to punch this arrogant fish in his smug face. Before Katy could potentially harm the shark boy, another person walks through the doors.

It was an woman, with an hourglass figure, walking slowly towards the stage. She seemed strange, as she wore a white T-shirt and black yoga pants, and most oddly, she wore one of those symbolic white masks that represent comedy in the theatre. Her real face could not be seen, as she had a black ponytail that would sway when she walked.

"I can feel your emotions emerging from within, emotions of anger, of rage. This is good!" The masked woman says to Katy as she walks onto the stage.

"Huh?" Katy raises her eyebrow in confusion.

"When in theatre, it is important to use emotions, as for it spices up your character!" The woman responds.

"My name is Miss Thalia, and I am the director of this Play." The woman introduces herself. "And you there, what is your name?" She points at the shark teen.

"Oh! My name is Athens Darkwater, soon to be your b-"

"Were you the one to provoke her?" Miss Thalia interrupts him as she points to Katy.

"Huh? I mean-uh...Yes-I mean, no! Er-" Athens starts to nervously stutter as he tries to explain himself.

"Because if you did, you did well!" The director explains as Katy widens her eyes.

"Wait, what?" Katy questions the woman.

"Oh! Uh, why yes! I was!" Athens quickly recuperates as she returns to his cocky self.

"Perfect! In order to help out your fellow cast members, you must be the one who gives them feeling, to give them fuel!" Miss Thalia explains.

"What? But he was-"

"No buts!" The director cuts off Katy as she throws her hand up in a dramatic fashion.

"Keep it up Mr. Darkwater, you'll be a star in no time!" Thalia compliments the snarky shark.

"Why thank you Miss Thalia, I do my best." Athens smirks, his ego inflating more by the second.

"Okay children, here are the scripts!" The woman hands out large, thick packets to everyone. "Study them, and pick the character you want to play by tomorrow, because then, we begin the true rehearsal! Good night everyone!" The masked lady struts out the same way she came in.

Katy stares at the large packet in her hands as Athens walks by.

"Be sure to study that packet well princess, you don't want a "cat got your tongue" moment tomorrow, haha!" The shark laughs at his own pun as he exits the auditorium.

Katy slightly crumples the packet as she balls up her fists in anger. She's not going to let some showoff jerk like him be the true star of the play, because that spot belongs to her.


	19. Theatre Girl, Part 2

Katy walked home feeling both irritated and exhausted. She thought that being in this play was going to be fun and exciting, but by the looks of things, it's going to be an unpleasant experience. The blue cat walks up her apartment building's steps and reaches the door, sighing a deep breath before opening it.

"Mom! I'm home!" Katy yells out as she closes the apartment door behind her. Dropping her light blue backpack onto the floor.

"Heya sweetie! How did the play thing go?" Katy's mother welcomes her daughter home as she sat on the sofa, looking up at her as she was reading a book.

Her mother was blue like Katy, and had darker blonde hair. Her face was slightly wrinkled, smiling at her daughter with a warm motherly smile as she is wearing an orange shirt with a white music note in the middle, and a pair of light gray sweatpants.

"It was okay..." The teen sighs as she plops down on the sofa next to her mother.

Katy's Mom can tell her daughter doesn't truly mean that. "Katy...you were so excited to join theatre, did something happen?" Her mother asks with concern as she puts a hand on Katy's shoulder.

"...No..." Katy looks at the ground, avoiding eye contact. She then gets up, with her Script in hand. "I'm gonna go to my room and study." She says almost unenthusiastically as she heads towards her bedroom.

"Oh...alright sweetie...I love you." Katy's Mom smiles at her daughter, hoping she will be okay soon.

Katy turns back to her mother, giving her a forced light smile, to try to ease her a bit. "I love you to, Mom." Katy tells her before entering her bedroom.

The cat kicked off her shoes as she threw herself face down into her bed, groaning to herself. This was going to be a long couple weeks.

She sat up and rubbed her face with her hands before laying back down. She turned on the lamp on her nightstand beside her bed and examined the script. It was called "Moonlight Rose", it was a romance/tragedy story revolving around a peasant girl from a medieval kingdom falling in love with a Knight as he prepares for war with a rival Kingdom. Katy sees the index of characters and automatically decides that she will play the main actress, the peasant girl. Katy knows for certain that Athens will go for the role as the lead male character, the Knight. Seeing how her character is going to end up falling in love with him makes her somewhat queasy. But if she is going to be a star, she will need to toughen through it.

The cat spends the next few hours studying her lines, reading the script to herself over and over and over. She continues until the sun sets, as by that time she's sitting down on her bed with her hair messy, stressed out.

The feline startles herself when her phone starts to ring. She looks at her phone and sees that Lammy is calling her. Katy doesn't hesitate to answer the call.

"Hey Lammy." Katy mumbles, feeling tired and unenergized.

"H-Hey Katy, are you ready for band practice later?" The lamb says over the phone.

Katy's eyes shoot wide open. She had completely forgotten about band practice.

"Oh gosh! Aw man, sorry Lammy, I completely forgot. I was really busy with reading my script, and I must of lost track of time." Katy apologizes as she facepalms herself with guilt.

"I-It's okay Katy! We can reschedule it!" Lammy tries to calm her down. "A-anyway, how was rehearsal?"

"Girl, I don't know...I thought it would be fun, but then I found out Athens Darkwater was in the play too." Katy rests her head on her hand as she puts the cellphone up to her left ear.

"Who?" Lammy asks, confused.

"He's some stuck up clown in our grade who thinks he's hot stuff." Katy frowns as she describes the shark boy.

"O-oh boy..." Lammy utters, feeling Katy's anger from the other side of the phone.

"He said that I'm not talented, and he called me a clown! Well I'll show him!" The feline rants as she tightens her grip on her phone.

"P-please calm down Katy...I don't like it when you get mad..." The redhead tries to calm her best friend, not liking how Katy is getting angrier.

Katy notices Lammy's upset tone and calms herself down. "I'm...I'm sorry Lammy...I just don't want to let some kid like him think he's better than me, not to mention that the play director actually likes his attitude." Katy says as she calms herself down.

"It will be okay Katy...I-I know you'll be great in this play, and I'll come and support you! I...I believe in you." Lammy sweetly says to the blue cat.

Katy blushes when she hears this. "Aww...thanks Lammy, that actually makes me feel better." The feline smiles warmly as she still has a blush on her face.

"Hehe...n-no problem..." Lammy says, who is actually blushing herself.

"Do me a favor and call Ma-San for me and tell her that practice will be rescheduled okay? I gotta get back to rehearsing." Katy asks the lamb.

"Oh yeah, n-no problem! Good luck Katy!" The lamb shares her encouragement.

"Thanks! See you later!"

"Bye!"

Katy ends the call with new found confidence, with a determined look, she opens the script back up and begins reading once more.

...

The next day at Play rehearsal, all the actors and actresses are dressed in their costumes and are finally re-enacting the scenes from the play.

"Come now, Reginald, let us train, so we may win this war in the name of Kingdomia!" Athens perfectly executes his line as he is dressed in a Knight costume, obviously not made of real metal.

As Athens and the other Knight actor pretend to train their swordsmanship with their Styrofoam swords, Katy walks up to the stage, dressed in a dirty cloth dress, like a peasant in medieval times would.

"Oh, my sweet Knight, how I long for your love!" Katy monologues to herself as she pretends to gawk at the Knight, even though in reality she hates him.

"I must find a way to win your love, so then we can-"

"CUT!" Miss Thalia shouts into her megaphone, clearly dissatisfied.

"Oh not again!" Athens rolls his eyes at Katy's mistake.

"What did I do now?" Katy throws her arms up in the air, looking at the director.

"The line is "I must find a way to win your heart." not "love"" The masked woman corrects the blue cat.

"Miss Thalia, this is the fourth time today she messed up her lines, I say we look for a replacement for her!" Athens glares at Katy, while sticking his nose into the air.

Katy gives the shark a death glare. "Oh I'll give you a replacement! You're gonna need your legs to be replaced when I'm done with-"

"That's enough!" Miss Thalia quickly jumps in front of the feline, stopping her from lashing out on the shark boy.

"Okay everyone, it's getting late. We shall pick up Act II, Scene VII tomorrow! Goodnight everyone!" Miss Thalia dismisses everyone.

Athens walks past Katy after he takes off his costume. "I knew you wouldn't be good enough." She sneers as he leaves the auditorium.

"Augh! Why do I even bother! I try, and I mess up, and I get ridiculed!" Katy stomps her feet in frustration as Miss Thalia approaches her.

"Katy, you should not beat yourself over this, you just have to take whatever you're feeling, and apply it to your performance!" The woman says in a dramatic fashion.

"But Athens-"

"Athens is fueling your anger. You should not let it build up inside, you must shed it through pouring your heart out on stage! You need to hold your head up high!"

Katy then opens her eyes wide. She remembers her friends encouragement from the other day. She remembers her Mother being supportive. She remembers Lammy wishing Katy luck over the phone, saying she believes in her.

Lammy...

"You're right Miss T..." Katy begins to smile as she remembers that she has plenty of support.

"I gotta Keep My Head Up!" Katy jumps up and yells, feeling reinvigorated.

"That's the spirit!" The masked woman exclaims.

"Miss T, is there anymore advice you can give me for being a better actress?" Katy asks the director.

"Mmmhmm! I shall teach you what you need to know! Just follow my rap, and you will be an amazing actress!"

...

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...

LESSON 1

"A true star shines bright in every direction, you just have to find the true connection! Whether on a stage or on a show, here is a few things that you just have to know!"

"Pick up your voice, and make it loud!"

"Pick up your voice, and make it loud!"

"Don't get scared in front of a crowd!"

"Don't get scared in front of a crowd!"

"From bright blue days, and pitch black nights,"

"From bright blue days, and pitch black nights,"

"Nothing is worse than a case of stage fright!"

"Nothing is worse than a case of stage fright!"

LESSON 2

"Whether it be homemade or on the A-list, listen to my rhythm, please, I insist! A look it your eyes, I see you got the stuff! Now here we go, we haven't had enough!"

"Acting... is a whole lot like singing!"

"Acting... is a whole lot like singing!"

"In your mind, a bell can be ringing!"

"In your mind, a bell can be ringing!"

"You got to speak with pride, and fly like a kite!"

"You got to speak with pride, and fly like a kite!"

"If you have the skill, you'll be quite the sight!"

"If you have the skill, you'll be quite the sight!"

LESSON 3

"Dancing on the floor underneath my feet, you can't stop me, I can't be beat! You got to do whatever to act your heart out, there is nothing else, that's all I'm about!"

"Pick up your voice, and make it loud!"

"Pick up your voice, and make it loud!"

"Let them hear you, from here to the clouds!"

"Let them here you, from here to the clouds!"

"From bright blue days, and pitch black nights!"

"From bright blue days, and pitch black nights!"

"You gotta do your best to win the fight!"

"You gotta do your best to win the fight!"

LESSON 4

"Here's the last lesson, so be sure to hear. You got to know that the end is near! A poor girl and a royal knight, he has the bark but you have the bite!"

"Sing it! Act it! Go go go!"

"Sing it! Act it! Go Go Go!"

"We got to give these people one heck of a show!"

"We got to give these people one heck of a show!"

"Comedy, tragedy, show a little love!"

"Comedy, tragedy, show a little love!"

"You will shine like a goddess above!"

"You will shine like a goddess above!"

...

Alright Katy! You now have what it takes to be a true star!" Miss Thalia poses dramatically.

"Aww! Thanks! I kept my head up!" Katy smiles as she does a cute pose too.


	20. Bonus Chapter 2, COOL MODE

(A/N: Here's what would have happened if Katy got Cool Mode on her rap from "Theatre Girl, Part 2")

LESSON 1

"A true star shines bright in every direction, you just have to find the true connection! Whether on a stage or on a show, here is a few things that you just have to know!"

"Pick up your voice, and make it loud!"

"Pick up, Pick up, your voice, your voice!"

"Don't get scared in front of a crowd!"

"Don't get scared! Don't, don't get, get scared!"

Once Katy reaches cool mode, a swarm of Paparazzi swarm into the auditorium, taking photos of the blue cat.

"Good luck Katy, you're the star now!" Miss Thalia dramatically jumps off the stage as the stage darkens. Suddenly, a spotlight is shining down on Katy as the paparazzi's cameras flash in the darkened audience when Katy continues to rap.

"Pick up, pick up, your singing! And the Ringing!"

"Make it loud! M-m-make it loud!"

"You have to have to speak, speak with pride!"

"If you have the skill, you'll fly like a kite!"

"Pick up your voice, don't don't get scared!"

"If you have the skill, a bell can be ringing!"

"Let them, let them, let them here you!"

"From here, from here, from here to the clouds!"

"Comedy, comedy, show show a little love, love!"

"Tragedy, tragedy, show show a little love, love!"

"Pick up your voice, you'll fly, fly like a kite!"

"From bright blue days, you'll be, you'll be quite the sight!

"you will shine, shine, show a little love!"

"Like a goddess! Goddess! Goddess from up above!"

...

As the paparazzi continue to cheer and takes photos, Miss Thalia returns to the stage.

"Great job Katy!" Hey, be sure to get my good side!" Thalia yells to one of the photographers as she poses for the cameras.

"Uhhh...thanks..." Katy says as she stands in Miss Thalia's shadow.


	21. Theatre Girl, Part 3

Two weeks have past as the big night has finally arrived. Katy spent the last two weeks improving under Miss Thalia's direction, perfecting her lines and so forth. She didn't let anything coming out that scrawny big headed fish get to her either.

The blue cat was ready to do this! She was prepared to out on that stage and preform her heart out! Well, at least she thought so at first.

"Oh boy...tonight is the big night..." Katy looked at her reflection in the equipment room mirror, wearing the cloth dress for the play. The blonde teen exhaled a nervous breath as she sipped some water from her bottle.

"You can do this Katy...you got to keep your head up...you got this girl..." She said to herself, trying to give herself a pep talk.

"Starting to doubt yourself, kitten?" Katy turns around to see Athens, dressed in his knight costume, smirking at her.

"Don't call me that." The cat gave him a mean look as she returned her attention to the mirror.

"I don't blame you if you are, you know. If I was a weaker person, I too would start to crack under the immense pressure." The shark smiled a toothy grin as Katy looks at him through the mirror. "All those people, watching your every move, listening to every word that comes out of your mouth, staring...listening...judging." Athens' smile becomes a little more mischievous as Katy briefly looks at herself with concern.

"If you mess up tonight, you'll forever be remembered as the girl who choked." The orange haired boy laughs to himself as Katy starts to become furious. The feline takes a brush that was laying in front of the mirror and gets up, throwing it at him with anger. Athens lets out a little "eep!" as he quickly dodges the projectile.

"I'll throw the mirror next if you don't get out of my face!" Katy threatens through gritted teeth as Athens backs away towards the exit.

"I'm leaving! I'm leaving! But remember, it's make or break tonight." The shark remarks as he takes his leave.

After spending a few seconds to calm herself down, she begins to let Athens' words sink in. If she even messes up once, she'll become an embarrassment. She would never be taken seriously as an actress again. Katy sat back down in the chair, rubbing her forehead with her fingers, trying not to get to worked up.

...

As the cast of the play was getting ready, the auditorium was starting to fill up, mostly with the families of the cast members.

"Ugh, it's all dusty in here." Ma-San complains as she and Lammy walk into the large theater.

"I-It's not that bad." Lammy responds with her hands in her jean pockets.

"You're right, the fact that I spent ten dollars for a single ticket blows that complaint out of the water." The mouse frowns as Parappa, PJ, Matt, and Sunny enter the auditorium.

"Hey wait! You can't bring food in here!" A middle aged dog woman who was at the ticket stand approaches the teddy bear, who was holding a box of donuts.

"Aw what? Why not?" The bear frowns, not wanting to give up his Phat Donuts.

"Because it's against the rules, now hand it over." The woman frowns, demanding PJ to hand over the food.

PJ sighs as he surrenders his glazed treats to the lady before he and the others find a seat towards the front.

"I can't believe I have I have to sit through this play without a snack..." The bear pouts as he slumps into his seat.

"PJ, you ate like...two hours ago." Parappa stares at his upset friend.

"I know! I feel like I'm starving to death." PJ whimpers as everyone gives him a funny look.

"Oh man...I can't wait to see Katy...I-I bet she'll be really great." Lammy smiles as her cheeks redden, thinking about Katy.

"As long as she doesn't actually *break a leg* out there." Ma-San comments, her feet dangling off her chair due to her short height.

Hearing that, Lammy starts to feel anxious as she thinks about Katy actually breaking her leg on stage. She starts whimpering at the terrifying thought. Ma-San notices this and rolls her eyes.

"She's not going to break a leg Lammy, don't worry about it." The yellow mouse dryly said, causing Lammy to ease up a little.

As the red haired lamb was calming down, a lone woman entered the auditorium. It was Katy's Mother, who was wearing a sparkly black dress with equally black heels, as well as gold earrings on her pointy ears. She walked down the aisle with a smile that closely resembled that of Katy's, and sat by herself in the front aisle.

Lammy and Ma-San both see this woman as she took her seat a few rows in front of them.

"H-hey...I th-think that's Katy's Mom." Lammy whispers to Ma-San, staring at the fancily dressed cat woman awkwardly.

"Geez, the resemblance is definitely there." Ma-San says, looking at the woman with the blonde hair and blue skin.

"You should go say Hi." Ma-San tells the lamb, who quickly responds with a stutter.

"Wh-what? No...no, she probably wouldn't w-want my company anyway..."

"Nonsense, if she is anything like Katy, she would love to talk to you." Ma-San replies, looking up at the taller lamb.

"I...I don't know Ma-San..." Lammy rubs her shoulder as she feels nervous again.

"Trust me, you'll be alright. Now go up to her." Ma-San gestures for her friend to go up to the woman.

"W-well...alright...I guess it wouldn't h-hurt to say hello..." Lammy gets up out of her chair as she moves towards the aisle.

"Hehe...that's better." Ma-San smiles to herself as she puts her arm on the other armrest that was apart of Lammy's seat.

The redhead slowly makes her way towards the lady, nervous that she was going to leave a horrible first impression.

"H-h-hi..." Lammy awkwardly mutters as she greets the mother cat.

"Oh, hello." The woman smiled brightly at the uncomfortable lamb, a smile that resembled Katy's. The woman's friendly demeanor helps the lamb relax a tiny bit.

"Y-you wouldn't happen to be, uh...Katy's Mom, would you?" Lammy asks the adult feline, while awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck.

"Why yes, yes I am!" The lady proudly proclaims, widening her smile.

"I-I don't know if Katy t-told you about me, b-but I'm Lammy. Katy's my best friend..." Katy's Mother's face brightens even more when she hears this.

"Oooh! Lammy! Katy talks a lot about you!" The Momma cat laughs with delight.

"R-really?" Lammy expresses a look of surprise, finding out that Katy talks about her with her Mom.

"Yeah! Here, sit next to me!" The woman taps the seat next to her, where Lammy promptly sits down.

"Wh-what kinds of things did Katy tell you about me?" The lamb asks, hoping to hear something positive.

"Good things! She tells me that you're the best friend she could ever have! And that you're the best guitarist she has even seen!" She happily explains to the red haired teen.

"Oh...wow..." Lammy blushes as she giggles to herself, feeling a sense of happiness.

"The fact that you make my daughter so happy, makes me very happy!" Katy's Mom explains with a giggle. "And a friend of hers is a friend of mine!"

"Oh gosh, that's really a-awesome to hear, Mrs. Kat." The lamb's face lightens up with joy.

"Oh, it's Miss Kat. I'm not married hehe." The woman innocently corrects her.

"Oh, my b-bad." Lammy apologizes, hoping not to offend her.

"It's okay! But you can call me Katrina." Katrina Kat winks at the lamb, with a friendly smile still on her face.

"Oh, alright! Um...hey Katrina?" Lammy asks the woman, looking at the floor awkwardly.

"Yes Lammy?" The adult feline says to the lamb.

"Has Katy ever s-said anything about me...other than that I'm her friend?" Lammy stutters as she blushes even more, avoiding eye contact with the woman.

"What do you mean?" Katrina asks her, slightly confused.

"N-nevermind!" Lammy quickly utters.

Just then, the lights dim as Miss Thalia walks onto the stage, with a spotlight following her.

"Look! It's starting!" Katrina smiles as everyone brings their attention to the masked woman on stage.

"Good Evening Ladies and Gentleman!" The masked woman's black ponytail sways as she poses.

"My name is Miss Thalia, and I am the Writer, Director, and Costume designer for this play!" Miss Thalia speaks loudly and proudly through the microphone.

"Tonight, you all shall see a story unfold. A story of a young woman, impoverished and alone. Until one fateful day she finds the man of her dreams. Please enjoy...Moonlight Rose!" Miss Thalia bows as she exits the stage.

The stage lights come on, revealing a medieval looking background. Then a moment later, Katy walks onto the stage, wearing her peasant dress.

"Look! There's my baby girl!" Katrina silently squeals with delight, seeing her daughter on stage.

Katy sees both her mother and Lammy, sitting in the front row with smiles on their faces. Any uncertainty Katy had was melted away right there as she felt their support.

"Oh cruel fate! My Mother and Father hath died from the black death, now I must take care of the farm all by myself! Oh woe is me!" Katy poses with sadness as she recites her lines.

As Katy monologues about how much her life sucks, Athens and a few other actors dressed as knights come on stage.

"Ah, it is a beautiful day to train. Is it not?" Athens smiles as he talks to the actor next to him.

"Uh...yep." The human cast member says, forgetting his lines.

"Come men, let us pass through this random farm! So we can train...with our swords!" The shark proclaims as he and the other knights walk off the left side of the stage.

Katy stares at Athens and puts on a fake lovestruck look.

"Oh dear knight, thou hast tugged my heartstrings! I shall win your love fair knight!" Katy executes her lines as the next scene is about to start.

As the play progresses, Lammy blushes every time Katy appears on stage. She can't help but to admire the blue feline, she was perfect in Lammy's eyes.

...

"Psst...Matt?" PJ leans over, trying to get Matt Major's attention.

"What?" The blonde dog looks over at the bear.

"You got any food?" PJ innocently asks.

"What? No." Matt responds, trying to speak as quietly as possible.

"Alright...psst...Ma-San?" PJ taps the yellow drummer's shoulder, who is sitting in front of the teddy bear.

"Shut up!" Ma-San whispers harshly, as she's trying to pay attention to her friend performing on stage.

"Oh man...Parappa...everyone's being mean to me..." PJ whimpers.

"Well, maybe that's because you're trying to mooch nonexistent food off of them." Parappa rolls his eyes as he films the play with a camcorder.

"Are...are you filming this? I think that's against the rules..." PJ says, looking kind of concerned.

"I know, but I kinda need the money to buy my sister a new doll, so I plan to sell copies of the play." Parappa quietly explains as he continues filming.

"Parappa, who's going to buy pirated copies of a mediocre high school play?" The teddy bear raises his eyebrow.

"Uh...I don't know...artsy people?" Parappa shrugs as he holds his camcorder steady.

...

"Oh, Sir Knightington. How I love you so." Katy says to Athens as she holds his hands.

"I love thou too, my love. I promise I shall marry you when this war is over." Athens recites his lines as he speaks in character.

Just then, an actor in a black suit of armor appears on the stage.

"I am the Black Knight! And I am...uh...evil!" The kid butchers his lines as he confronts Athens.

Both Katy and Athens glare at the actor for messing up his lines before returning to their characters.

"Stand back my love, as I fight this evildoer!" Athens shouts as he pulls out his Styrofoam sword, ready to fight.

"Er...prepare to fight...so uh...you're freakin' dead, kiddo!" The black Knight improvises as he pulls out his Styrofoam sword as well.

Athens and the black knight enter a poorly choreographed fight scene that consisted of slapping each other with their fake swords while grunting, this lasted an excruciating seventeen minutes until Athens pretended to take a fatal blow to the chest.

"AAAAAH! I HAVE BEEN SLAIN!" Athens screams as he dramatically falls to the floor.

"MY DARLING!" Katy rushes to her fallen knight, pretending to be upset.

"Yes! I have slain the Royal Knight! Uh...get good, scrub!" The black knight shouts as he does an improvised victory dance.

"I shall avenge you, my dear..." Katy grab's Athens' sword as she throws it at the Black Knight's head, hard.

"That's my girl!" Katrina cheers Katy on from the audience.

"OW! That freaking hurt Katy!...uh...I mean...I am dying..." The Black Knight carefully lays down on the ground, laying on his back. "I am now dead...bleh!"

Katy returns to the dying Knight's side. "Oh my love, please...I cannot lose you..." The feline pretends to cry as Athens acts like he's about to die.

"Oh my love...I shall forever love you..." Athens mutters as he goes limp, pretending to die.

"Noooooooo!" Katy cries out, sobbing over the death of her knight.

"Fear not! M'Lady!" Katy turns around to face another cast member, wearing a rose bush costume.

"Who art thou?" She asks the bush person with a sniffle.

"I am the magical rose bush of...um...magic!" The kid shouts, raising his hands in the air in a grandiose manner.

"I have the power to use my Moonlight Roses to..uh...revive your knight!" The rose bush says as he plucks off a fake rose off his costume and tries to put it in Athens' mouth. The shark boy slaps the bush's arm away, spitting out the plastic rose.

"My love! You're alive!" Katy exclaims with a smile.

"Why yes, yes I am! Thank you rose bush!" Athens thanks the rose bush person with a smile.

"Everybody gets one." The bush simply says as he cartwheels off the stage.

"Oh my love, now that I'm alive again, let's get married! But first, let us share a kiss." Athens exclaims as he puckers his lips.

"If you kiss me, I'll rip your gills out with my teeth." Katy threatens the shark with a harsh whisper.

Athens instinctively puts a hand over the gills on his neck, letting out a scared "peep."

"Wh-what I meant to say was, let us share a hug!" Athens quickly corrects himself, frightened of the blue feline.

The two then share an awkward little hug as the curtains close.

The audience begins to applaud as the cast steps out back onto the stage, doing a bow.

Miss Thalia quickly rushes on stage and gets in front of the cast members. "Thank you all so much! Mwah! You're all so kind! Mwah!" The masked woman laughs as she blows kisses into the audience.

...

As the play comes to an end, Katy and the others meet up in the school parking lot.

"Oh sweetie! You did so well!" Katrina wraps Katy up with a warm hug.

"Aww, thanks Momma." Katy smiles as she hugs her mother back.

"Yeah, that play was uh...definitely something.." Parappa mumbles to the blue cat.

"You were by far the best actress Katy, everyone else sucked big time." Ma-San says, being honest as usual.

"I-I thought you did amazing, Katy." Lammy smiles as her cheeks turn red.

"Aww, thanks LamLam." Katy giggles as she blushes slightly as well.

"Your friend here is such a sweetheart!" Katy's Mom smiles at the lamb, who is returns grins a little bit as she looks to the ground.

"Aww, well that's Lammy for ya, haha!" The blonde feline laughs as she pats the redhead on the back.

"Well, see you later Katy. Good job tonight!" Parappa waves goodbye to the cat as everyone heads home.

"See you tomorrow Katy." Lammy hugs her best friend before she goes to catch up with the others.

"You ready to head home hun?" Katrina asks as she puts her arm around her daughter's shoulder.

Before Katy can say something, she sees Athens staring at her from a distance.

"Uh...not yet Mom...I got to talk to someone first." The blonde girl explains as she walks over to where Athens was.

"What do you want?" The shark boy huffs at the cat as she approaches him.

"Got something you want to say?" Katy folds her arms, raising her eyebrow at him.

"...no."

"..."

"Okay...you did...better than I thought you would." Athens quickly blurts out.

Katy smirks a tiny bit. "Would you say I'm the superior actress?"

"Don't push it." The shark boy rolls his eyes as Katy snickers.

"See ya later, fish stick." Katy says as she starts to walk away.

"Wait!" Athens calls out to Katy, causing her to turn around.

"...Are you going to sign up for the Spring Musical this year?" The orange haired shark asks.

Katy simply smiles at the boy.

"You bet."


	22. Room n' Onion

It was a cool Autumn day as Parappa and PJ walk down main street.

"So, how much do you think they'll give me for these?" Parappa asks the sleepy teddy bear, holding a large stack of DVD's in his hands.

"Uh...probably zero dollars and zero cents." PJ replies, smirking slightly as the rap dog frowns.

"Oh come on Peej, I'm sure they're gonna give me something for all of these!" Parappa says while readjusting his grip on the DVD's as they approach the town "Video World", which is Parappa Town's only video store left.

"They might give you a three second head start before they chase you out of the store." PJ jokes as Parappa rolls his eyes.

"Ha ha...very funny." The dog dryly murmurs as the two boys enter the video store.

Once inside, Parappa and PJ approach the counter, where a bored looking rabbit is playing with his phone.

"Yo." Parappa speaks up, trying to get the employee's attention.

The snow white rabbit quickly looks down at the two boys with a surprised expression on his face.

"Oh my God...you two are the first customers we've had in six days." The rabbit explains, putting his cellphone back in his pocket.

"We ain't here to buy anything, we're here to sell you all of these sweet DVD's!" Parappa promptly lays all the DVD cases on the counter.

"Dude, we barely get any customers anymore since everyone uses *Webflix* now, what makes you think we have enough money to buy your DVD's?" The employee bluntly asks the beanie wearing dog, clearly not interested.

"Trust me, just play the thing, you'll want it." Parappa instructs the employee.

The rabbit pops one of the discs into the DVD player and starts the video.

"...this is just a poorly made recording of some crappy high school play." The Video World employee says unimpressed.

"Nuh-uh, this is some professional theatrics right here! Now let's see...how about twenty bucks for each copy?" Parappa attempts to barter with the bunny.

"Get out." The rabbit points towards the exit.

"...You're missin' out pal." Parappa glares at the employee before grabbing all of the DVD's and walking out.

"I told you this was a waste of time." PJ states as the two teens continue walking down the street.

Parappa exhales as he looks down towards the ground. "I guess I won't be getting Pinto a new doll..."

The dogs takes a turn into the nearby alleyway, approaching a dumpster.

"Since these are worthless, I might as well throw these in the trash." Parappa says in a miserable tone as he opens the dumpster with one hand and dumps all the DVDs in with the other.

"OW!"

Both Parappa and PJ both jump, staring at the dumpster that apparently just yelled.

"Wh-what the heck was that?" PJ starts to tremble, feeling scared.

"I-I think it came from in there!" Parappa points at the now groaning dumpster.

"Is...is there any ghosts in there?" PJ calls out, trying to communicate with the Trash Phantom.

"Agh! There's no ghosts in here, you idiot! It's just me!"

Suddenly, Chop Chop Master Onion climbs out of the dumpster, rubbing a bruise on his head. He was wearing his blue karate robes, but they were very dirty and grimy, along with Master Onion himself.

"Sensei? What are ya doing in the garbage?" Parappa asks with concern and curiosity.

"I've uh...I...lost my wallet in here...and I went to look for it..." The karate master tries to muster up an explanation.

Both Parappa and PJ stare at him, clearly not believing him.

"...okay! Okay! I live in here..." The onion droops his shoulders in defeat, looking embarrassed.

"Wait a second, you're homeless?! Since when?!" Parappa looks legitimately shocked at this revelation.

"Ever since my fiancé became my ex-fiancé." Chop Chop moans in despair. "I've been living on the streets for weeks...My clothes are dirty, my stomach is full of discarded food scraps, and I smell bad..."

"Well you always did smell bad." PJ casually says, earning a glare from the homeless Onion.

Parappa lightly elbows the teddy bear before talking again.

"Don't you have anyone you can stay with?" The dog questions his sensei.

"I'm afraid not...all of my family members live in my home country of Rettou." Chop Chop explains solemnly.

"Hmmmm..." Parappa rests his chin in his hand as he is deep in thought. A few seconds later, a lightbulb goes off in the dog's mind.

"Hey, I know! Why don't you come live with me?!" Parappa happily exclaims, with his hands stretched out side to side.

"Wh-what? Really?" Master Onion's face lightens up, looking at Parappa with a look of surprise.

"Yeah! You taught me how to defend myself, and you also taught me how to be mature! It's the very least I could do!" Parappa shines a wide smile.

"Well...if you insist!" Chop Chop Master Onion says as he gladly hops out of the dumpster.

...

As the boy and his sensai walk down his neighborhood street, Chop Chop begins to speak.

"Uh...Parappa...are you sure your parents won't mind?" The Onion man asks his student as he scratches the back of his head.

"Yeah, of course! My Dad can easily be persuaded, and my Mom is out of state visiting her Aunt and Uncle because they got really sick." Parappa explains as they walk up his driveway.

As Parappa reaches for the doorknob, he turns to face Master Onion.

"Okay. Just play it cool."

"I was cool before you were even born." Chop Chop points finger guns at Parappa, who in return just blankly stares at him.

"Please try not to do that." Parappa says as he opens the door.

"Yo Dad! I'm home!" Parappa calls out to his father as he gestures for Chop Chop to follow him inside.

Papa Rappa averts his gaze from the newspaper to his returning son. "Hey sport! How was-" Papa stopped mid sentence as he noticed the smelly dirty man standing behind his boy.

"Parappa, you let a homeless man follow you home again." Papa tells his son as he gave him a mildly disappointed look.

"No No No! I brought him home! I want him to stay with us!" Parappa replies.

"What? No! Parappa you can't just adopt homeless people!" Papa puts down his newspaper as he argues.

"Oh come on Dad! He's not just any homeless person! He's Chop Chop Master Onion! The greatest Karate Master AND Romantic Karate Master to ever live!" The rap dog flails his arms to make his point.

"Uhhhh, I'm not sure if I want someone who has the title of *Romantic Karate Master* to live in the same house as my children..." Papa Rappa speaks in an uneasy tone.

"Mister Rappa, I am just a humble Karate Master looking for a roof over my head. I promise I will find a new place as soon as I get back on my feet." Chop Chop Master Onion explains as he does a little traditional bow.

"Ugh...well...alright...just until you get back on your feet though!" Papa reluctantly agrees to let him stay. "Your Mother won't like this though..." Papa Rappa cautiously tells his son.

"Oh she'll be fine with it!" Parappa casually waves it off. "YO PINTO, COME DOWN HERE!" Parappa yells upstairs for his little sister.

Soon later, the young girl makes her way down the steps.

"What is it Parappa? I-" Pinto sniffs the air around her.

"What smells like onions?" She comments, slightly disgusted.

"Gee, I have no idea." Chop Chop sarcastically replies as he rolls his eyes.

"Pinto, meet Chop Chop Master Onion! He's gonna be living with us for the next while!" Parappa smiles as The Onion Man gives her a friendly little wave.

"Ewww, the whole house is gonna reek of onions now!" Pinto scrunches her nose at the news.

"Lovely sister you got." The Tamanegi Sensei whispers to the pup.

"Come sensei! Let me show you my room!" He excitedly exclaims as he heads up the stairs, with Chop Chop following him.

...

"Welcome to my humble ab...abo...ab...uh...room!" Parappa smiles as he flings open his bedroom door.

Boxxy Boy throws his Electronics Monthly magazine behind his back in a flustered fashion.

"Gah! Parappa, don't you know how to knock?!" The boombox scolds his master.

"Oh my god! What is that?!" Chop Chop Master Onion says, startled by the robot.

"That's Boxxy Boy! He's my boombox! And this is my room!" Parappa waves his arms around, showcasing the bedroom.

"It's uh...it's definitely a room alright...where will I be staying?" The Onion asks the excited pup.

"Oh, you'll be staying in here!" Parappa says as he digs inside his closet, looking for something.

"Uh...I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with sharing a bed with a kid..." Chop Chop awkwardly rubs the back of his neck.

"Oh you won't be sleeping in my bed! You'll be sleeping on this!" Parappa pulls out a deflated air mattress out of his closet.

Parappa puts his mouth on the nozzle and blows into the mattress. For the next five minutes, Chop Chop Master Onion and Boxxy Boy awkwardly watch Parappa take deep breaths and blow air into the mattress before eventually finding out that there's a hole in it.

"Oh...*gasp*...shoot..." Parappa gasps for air as he chucks the ruined mattress back in his closet. Instead, he grabs a spare blanket and pillow and lays it on the floor.

"There you go!" Parappa exclaims as points to Chop Chop's *bed*.

"Ugh...better than a dumpster I suppose...anyway, thank you for opening your home to me." Chop Chop thanks his student sincerely.

"No problem sensei! But can I ask you something?" Parappa asks the Onion.

"What?"

"Can you please take a shower or something, because you smell like a plate of rotten onion rings drizzled with raw sewage."


	23. Bear Labor

The "Record Heaven" music store was fairly empty by nightfall. The sun has set, and the place has died down. The only other person inside was one of the employees, a brown dog who was sleeping on top of the counter, snoring loudly as drool ran down his mouth and onto the countertop. Seconds later, the door bell chimed as someone walked inside. The canine employee awoke abruptly, falling off the counter in the process.

"Augh! Uh-Um...Welcome to uh...Record Heaven!" The brown dog blurts out as he quickly gets off of the floor. After taking a second to realize who the customer was, he became less tense.

"Oh, hey there PJ!" The employee greeted the teenage teddy bear in a friendly manner. "What's up?"

"Hi Giraldo. I'm here to see the good stuff!" PJ smiled to the Record Heaven employee.

"Oh yeah, yeah! I got what you need! It's in the back, follow me!" Girlado gestures the bear to follow him into the back room.

As the two entered the dim, dusty back room, the brown dog picked up a box full of vinyl records.

"Here ya go, my dude." Giraldo hands the box over to the teddy bear, who takes it with a smile.

"So, how's DJing going?" The man asks, making conversation.

"It's doin' good. I've been playing the same songs for awhile now, so I wanna spice thing up a bit." PJ shrugs as he holds on to the records.

"Hey...you know...if you want to spice things up a bit, there is something I have." Giraldo says as he pulls something off the shelf.

"What?" PJ raises his eyebrow, trying to see what he has.

"Check it out." The dog reveals a sparkly, platinum record as the teddy bear stares at it with awe.

"Whoa..." The bear simply utters with intrigue.

"It's an Ultra Rare Party Mix Platinum Record. You play this baby with your turntable, and the crowd will go wild!" Giraldo explains as he showcases the prestige record.

"...I need it." PJ mumbles in an almost hypnotic fashion.

"You can have it for...say...two hundred dollars!" The Record Heaven employee offers.

PJ's eyes grow wide with disbelief. "Two hundred bucks?! But all these records only cost twenty!" PJ complains, referencing the box of records in his arms.

"This is a super duper rare record PJ! Plus it's made of pure platinum. This is worth more than any regular vinyl record." The brown dog explains the immense value of the record.

"...but I don't have any more money..." PJ looks at the floor, saddened.

"Then you can't get this super cool record then." Giraldo says as he puts it back on the shelf.

"Okay look, I'll get the money for it! Can you please just hold on to it for me? I need that record!" PJ begs the employee, giving him puppy dog eyes.

"Fine...but I won't wait forever." The dog accepts.

"I promise, I'll get the money! One way or another!" The bear promises as he takes off.

...

It was a little while later, as PJ and his parents sat around the dining room table, eating dinner. PJ ate his food quickly as usual, but he couldn't get the thought of that cool looking record out of his mind.

"Uh...hey Dad?" PJ looked up at his father, who was sitting on the other side of the table.

"Yeah?" The larger adult teddy bear said while eating his food, not taking his eyes off of it. His father looked a lot like PJ, but his eyes were more round. Plus, he had a comically well groomed black handlebar mustache.

"I was wondering...uh...can I have two hundred bucks?" PJ innocently asks.

The grown bear's eyes widen as he almost chokes on his food.

"What?! What do you possibly need that much money for?!" Mr. Berri questions his son.

"There's this really cool record that I wanna get! It's...so sparkly..." The teddy bear giggles in a silly manner as his Dad shakes his head.

"PJ, your father can't just keep giving you money. It doesn't grow on trees, y'know." PJ's mother explains to him. His mother had a lighter skin tone compared to her husband and son, where it was a "coffee and cream" color. Her eyes resembled PJ's but with dark green irises, as she also wore a maroon colored cloche hat.

"But money is made out of paper! And paper comes from trees!" PJ drops a logic bomb on his family.

"Don't get smart with me kiddo." Mrs. Berri rolls her eyes as she shows a feint smirk.

"If you really need the money, you can find a job." His Dad suggests as he finishes the remaining dinner on his plate.

"A job?!" PJ moans, clearly not interested in working.

"C'mon, work isn't that bad! Plus, doesn't your friend Pierogi have a job?" Mr. Berri says, twiddling his moustache.

"You mean Parappa? He worked at the Flea Market for like, 20 minutes, and somehow got enough money to fix his Dad's totaled car." PJ recalls that particular memory.

"Well if he can make that much money in such little time, then you can too!" PJ's father tries to encourage his boy.

PJ groans unenthusiastically to himself as he gets out of his chair, mumbling that he was going to bed.

...

The Sun has risen as a brand new day in Parappa Town has begun. PJ walked down the sidewalk of main street, deep in thought on where he was going to be able to find a job. As the boy continued to walk, he noticed a Help Wanted sign on the window of the Chunky Burger. The teddy bear simply sighed, this was a good a place to work as any he imagined.

As the bear walked inside the restaurant and approached the counter, the manager woman immediately recognized him.

"Oh no...LOOK ALIVE EVERYONE, THE TEDDY BEAR IS HERE!" The dark skinned woman yells at the kitchen staff, who all start to panic.

"Relax, I'm not here to eat. I'm here for the job opening." PJ explains in his usual calm manor.

"Wait...you're here for a job?" The woman raises her eyebrow at the young teen.

"Uh...yeah." PJ confirms.

"...Eh, what's the worst that could happen? You're hired." The woman shrugs.

"Alright!" PJ smiles, landing his first ever job.

"Here, you'll need to wear this." The woman gives PJ an orange work shirt, and a little paper hat.

While the teddy bear struggles to put on his work uniform, the woman speaks up.

"Okay, how good are you at wrapping?" She asks in a blunt manner.

"Not good...my best friend Parappa is a great rapper though. Maybe he can-"

"No! I meant wrapping! As in wrapping something up!" The dark skinned lady says with frustration.

"Oh...pretty good I guess." PJ answers, wearing his silly little work uniform now.

"Good, because that's what you'll be doing! You're job is to take the burgers, and wrap them up into the wrapper." She demonstrates by wrapping up a burger. "You think you can do that?"

"Yes sir!" PJ smiles as he salutes the woman.

She glares at him for an uncomfortable few seconds before PJ realizes his mistake.

"...yes ma'am..."

...

Several hours pass as the Chunky Burger is starting to get a steady flow of customers. The manager is pretty impressed at how fast the new kid is wrapping the food up, seeing how orders are quickly being served.

"Hmm, that kid's doing better than I thought." She thought to herself as she decides to check on him.

"Yo BJ! How are ya holding up?" The manager asks the teddy bear, who is simply doing his job.

"It's PJ...also I'm doing well. I gotta wrap these up nicely to appeal to the Chunky Burger Gods so they don't dunk my family into the big deep-fryer in the sky." PJ explains as he wraps up another burger.

"...what?"

"Hmm?"

"...Nevermind...just keep up the good work." The manager woman says as she returns to the counter.

When she does, she suddenly finds every customer in the building gathered at the register, giving her angry looks.

"Um...can I help you all?" She says nervously.

"Yeah, you mind telling us what the heck this is about?!" One of the customers shouts as she unwraps her burger, revealing that a large bite was taken out of it. Everyone else in the crowd showed off their half eaten burgers as well as everyone started yelling.

The manager's eye starts to twitch as she immediately heads into the kitchen.

"BJ!" She screams at the teddy bear, who is in the process of wrapping up a half eaten burger.

"Uh...It's PJ, and I uh...I kinda got hungry...very hungry...hehe..." PJ nervously laughs as the manager looks like she's about to explode.

"YOU'RE FIRED!" She screams, her face red with rage.

A moment later, PJ is sent flying out the door in a cartoony fashion, comically falling on his face.

"You're making the Chunky Burger Gods very angry!" PJ yells as he stands up and dusts himself off.

The bear sadly takes off his uniform as he continues down the street. He got fired, only after working for about three hours. Well, at least he outdid Parappa. But that wasn't the point...what was PJ going to do now? Just then, a lightbulb went off in his head.

With a new idea in his brain, PJ took off towards the direction of the Record Heaven.

...

Giraldo was sitting at the counter, reading a music magazine as the door chimed open. The brown dog looked up from his magazine and sees PJ Berri once again.

"Oh, hey PJ. You got the two hundred dollars yet?" The Record Heaven Employee asks as he lets out a small yawn.

"No, I'm not here for that." The bear simply states.

"Oh? What do you need then?" The brown dog curiously asks.

"I was wondering if you were hiring?" PJ says, looking up at the older dog.

"Uh...I mean...we could use another employee actually." Giraldo admits, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Does this mean I can work here?" PJ raises his eyebrow, looking for an answer.

"Uh...sure, I guess so." Giraldo says, hiring the bear.

"Nice! Does this mean I can get an employee discount?" The bear is starting to look a bit excited.

"Yeah."

With this, PJ immediately speed walks into the back room, coming out seconds later with the platinum album.

"Ah ha! I tricked ya! I beat the system hehehe!" PJ laughs in a silly fashion as he walks slowly towards the door.

"I used my employee discount to get the record! All without paying a dime! Hehe!" PJ continues to snicker as Giraldo gives him a weird look.

As PJ is about to exit, he looks back one more time.

"Oh yeah, I quit! Ha!" PJ smiles to himself, feeling a sense of accomplishment as he walks away with his new sparkly record.

Giraldo stands there silently, trying to figure out what just happened.

"...I don't think he knows what a *discount* is..."


	24. Worldcraft, Part 1

It was a late Sunday Afternoon in Parappa Town as a cool Autumn breeze made the red, orange, and yellow leaves swish around. One particular resident of this peaceful town was jogging at a fairly fast pace.

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" Parappa the Rapper cheerfully voices as he runs down the sidewalk, carefully maneuvering past other Parappa Town citizens to avoid a collision. The rapper was wearing a light blue sweatshirt over his standard t-shirt due to the chilly weather, and the dog's black floppy ears were bouncing up and down as the pup ran towards his destination.

Soon enough, Parappa finally reached the place he was going to. The "Game Shop", Parappa Town's video game store. As Parappa approached the building, he noticed a small encampment right outside of the Game Shop's doors. The dog was about to investigate until one of the camp's occupants shouted at him.

"No cutting in line!" The human teen shouted, pointing a broom handle at him.

"Whoa whoa James it's me, Parappa!" The spooked dog puts his hands up defensively.

"You could be the President for all I care, no butting in line!" James retorts, lowering the broom handle as he sat back down in his lawn chair.

"I wasn't butting!" Parappa exclaims, trying to prove his innocence.

"You best not be, or else I gotta use my beatin' stick on you." The brown haired teen taps the ground with his broom handle. James was wearing a red long-sleeved shirt with a yellow star emblem in the middle, with a pair of blue jeans.

"Alright...uh...so you here for Worldcraft too?" Parappa asks, trying to make conversation.

Worldcraft was the new sandbox video game where you had to gather resources to build things and survive in a randomly generated world filled with monsters.

"You know it." James replies, cracking open a soda can from the cooler next to him.

"We've been camping here since yesterday morning to make sure we were first in line!" Caleb explains as he crawls out of the tent, taking a seat in the lawn chair next to James. The overweight raccoon was wearing a green long-sleeved shirt with the word "Senpai" written on it, and a pair of dark brown sweatpants.

Parappa looks all around the area. "Uh...we're the only ones here."

"That means no competition!" Caleb points out.

"HEY YOU!" James yells at a passerby.

"Huh?...me?" The anthropomorphic goose looked concerned.

"Yeah you! Get to the back of the line!" James points the broom handle at the goose.

"B-but I'm not in line...I'm just trying to go to the Birth Mart..."

"You liar! You are a dirty liar!" James shouts menacingly.

"I'm not a liar...I'm just a goose...I'm just a goose..." The goose man sadly explains.

"...You're a turkey..." The human boy narrows his eyes.

The insulted goose runs away crying in an awkward fashion.

"Oh wow...that was mean." Parappa says, looking at James.

"None shall ruin our sacred line!" James says in a silly manner as he smacks the ground with the stick.

"Y'know, the game was supposed to be released last night, but SOMEONE IS INCOMPETENT WITH HANDLING SHIPMENTS APPARENTLY!" Caleb yells as he stares at the employee through the window, who in return gives the raccoon an inappropriate hand gesture.

"We had to huddle for warmth last night because apparently it's *illegal* to start a fire on main street." James throws air quotes on the word illegal.

"It got cold...it got cold." Caleb adds.

Just then, the employee opens up the doors.

"The game's here now, assholes. Get it and pack up your crap." The employee gestures to the encampment.

"Worldcraft time baby! ACK-" Caleb shouts as he trips while jumping out of his chair.

...

Parappa ran home as fast as he could with his new game in hand, a look of excitement is plastered on the rap dog's face as he is eager to play his new game. The beanie wearing rapper rushes inside his house and wastes no time popping the disc into his GameStation 2. Parappa grabbed his controller and plopped down on the couch.

"Finally..." Parappa smiles as he is about to play the game he's been wanting for months.

"Whoa there sport. Just what do you think you're doing?" Papa Rappa puts his hands on his hips, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm gonna play some Worldcraft!" Parappa jumps up and down in his seat like a happy puppy.

"Parappa, it's Sunday Evening and you haven't even started your homework yet! You're not playing until you finish all of it." Papa Rappa orders his son, wanting him to put schoolwork ahead of video games.

"But Daaaaaad..." The pup moans in disappointment.

"No buts Parappa. Now go upstairs and get started." Papa points upstairs.

Parappa sighs as he sadly heads up the staircase. The rapper opens the door to find Chop Chop Master Onion meditating in the middle of the floor, with Boxxy Boy next to him, trying to mimic his pose.

Parappa takes a deep breath and sighs loudly, looking at his Onion Teacher, who is still meditating. The dog takes another deep breath and sighs even louder, trying to get his attention. When this doesn't work, Parappa inhales as much air as his lungs can allow, and whimpers extremely loudly. This manages to do the trick as Chop Chop's eyes open wide, all bloodshot.

"Aaaaugh! What do you want Parappa?!" The Onion Master groans in annoyance as he gets up off of the floor.

"I have so much homework to doooooo..." Parappa complains, not wanting to do boring stuff like homework.

"So what?" Chop Chop throws his hands up, not really caring.

"This is gonna take me forever to do all by myself...can you help me?" Parappa pleads for the teacher's assistance.

"What? You seriously want me to help you with your homework?" Chop Chop Master Onion frowns at his request.

"C'mon Sensei, you're the smartest, bestest, most awesomest guy ever! You're the perfect person to help me! Please?" Parappa whimpers some more, grasping his hands together to beg.

"Well...I am all of those things..." Chop Chop says to himself, rubbing the back of his neck. He then looks over to Parappa, who is now giving him puppy dog eyes.

"...Okay. Okay! Fine, I shall help you, but only because I am the smartest karate master in the world." Chop Chop Master Onion gives in, folding his arms.

"Yes! Thank you Master!" Parappa cheers with delight.

The rap dog opens up his backpack, pouring out a whole stack of papers, binders, notebooks, and books on the bed.

"Good god..." The Onion Sensei nervously utters, seeing all the paperwork.

"Don't worry Sensei! We just Gotta Believe!" Parappa jumps up with a determined look on his face.

...

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...

LESSON 1

"HIIIIIIIIYATATATATATA!"

"Here we go now! Time to get Schoolin'! Ain't no time for jokes, no time to be foolin'! Good grades are important, from border to border! Now let's do this! Remember the Kick Punch Order!"

"Sharpen the pencil, put on the cap eraser!"

"Sharpen the pencil, put on the cap eraser!"

"Here we go! It's time to face her!"

"Here we go! It's time to face her!"

"Scribble! Write!"

"Scribble! Write!"

"Write! Scribble! Jot down the notes!"

"Write! Scribble! Jot down the notes!"

LESSON 2

"What's the first subject? Oh boy, it's math! I hate this so much, I wanna cut it in half! Algebra, Calculus, it's not easy stuff! Follow my lead Parappa, it's gonna get rough!"

"Divide by six! Take away the three!"

"Divide by six! Take away the three!"

"Don't change the rhythm, just let it be!"

"Don't change the rhythm, just let it be!"

"What's a square root? Seriously, I forget."

"What's a square root? Seriously, you forget!"

"Oh well, put seven, that's it I bet."

"Oh well, put seven, that's it you bet!"

LESSON 3

"Next on our plate, we have an English packet! We're gonna win it, move up in the bracket! I only learned this language when I was sixteen, but I got a groove never before seen!"

"I'm pretty sure a noun is a person, place, or thing!"

"You're pretty sure a noun is a person, place, or thing!"

"Move it to the music, now we gotta sing!"

"Move it to the music, now we gotta sing!"

"A verb is an action word! You know the deal!"

"A verb is an action word! I know the deal!"

"Like Kick Punch Turn! I am back for real!"

"Like Kick Punch Turn! You are back for real!"

LESSON 4

"Here we are Parappa! We're at the last stretch. This should be simple, like a dog playing fetch! It's multiple choice, so this should be easy! Don't lose focus, cause this is easy breezy!"

"Bubble in the A, the C, and the D!"

"Bubble in the A, the C, and the D!"

"I'm sure that's right, as far I can see!"

"I'm sure that's right, as far I can see!"

"True False False! False False True!"

"True False False! False False True!"

"Those were just guesses, I have no clue!"

"Those were just guesses, you have no clue!"

...

"Good job Parappa, you're homework is all finished!" Chop Chop proudly smiles.

"Yahoo! Thanks sensei! Now I can finally go play some Worldcraft!" Parappa cheers with glee as he does a little dance.

"...What craft?" The onion man looks at Parappa with confusion.

Parappa gasps with disbelief. "You don't know about Worldcraft?"

"No."

"C'mon, I'll show you!" Parappa takes his karate master by the hand as he leads him to the living room.

...

"Okay, so this is Worldcraft!" Parappa exclaims as he hops onto the couch with his controller, starting the game.

"...You wanted to show me a video game?" Chop Chop Master Onion says with an unimpressed look.

"It's not just a video game, It's a huge open world where you can do whatever you want, and build whatever you want!" Parappa explains as he moves his character around the randomly generated world.

"...Why is everything a square?" The Tamanegi Sensei criticizes the game's art style.

"First off all, they're cubes. Not squares. See, they're 3D." Parappa points out.

"Don't you dare correct me! I just helped you with your homework!" Master Onion frowns at the pup, who's eyes are glued to the screen.

"...Yeah..." Parappa utters, not paying attention as he is entranced by Worldcraft.

Chop Chop stares at the screen for a few more seconds with a sour expression.

"This is garbage! Is this what other kids are doing now a days?!" The Karate Master rants to Parappa, pointing at the TV.

"Uh huh..." The rapper mumbles as he tries to build a house in the game.

Chop Chop shakes his head with disappointment. "Pathetic...when I was your age, I was already a black belt!" He exclaims.

"Cool..." Parappa pays most of his attention to the game as his Karate Teacher continues his rant.

"You know what we played when we were kids? Samurais! Where we used sticks for katanas and beat each other with them until there was only one person left standing! I went undefeated everytime! See." Chop Chop Master Onion pulled out a photo from his pocket which featured a much younger Chop Chop, gleefully beating up other onion kids with a stick, who were all running away in terror.

"At least if you did that, you would be actually doing something! Instead of just sitting around watching a screen!" The Onion Sensei argues, criticizing Parappa and his *lazy* generation.

"But I don't want to beat my friends with sticks, I just wanna play Worldcraft." Parappa says as he starts to mine for coal.

"...Is there even a goal in this game?" The Onion asks, still not impressed.

"Uh...explore the world...gather resources...craft stuff..." The dog lists off.

"Wow, sounds real interesting." Chop Chop replies with dry sarcasm.

"I know right! Best ninety bucks I ever spent." Parappa smiles to himself, not picking up on his Sensei's sarcastic remark.

"NINETY DOLLARS!? Oh my god! Parappa, this is probably the worst possible thing you could spend ninety dollars on! You could have used it to buy...I don't know...new clothes, Karate Lessons...maybe play some poker..."

"Maybe what?"

"Nothing! Nothing! I'm just saying there's better things to buy than...that." Chop Chop emphasizes the *that*.

"Hey, don't knock it until you try it, teacher. Wanna play a little?" Parappa offers him the controller.

"...pffft! I don't have time for dumb video games! I got important things to do! Haha." Chop Chop laughed off the offer.

"Like what?"

"..." Chop Chop stared at the rapper for an awkward few seconds.

"I'm going upstairs to meditate!" Master Onion exclaims as he heads up to Parappa's room.

...

It was around Midnight as everyone in the Rappa Household was sound asleep. Well, except one person.

Chop Chop Master Onion tossed and turned uncomfortably on the floor, resting on his pillow and covered up in his blanket. Unlike the Tamanegi Master, Parappa was snoozing like a baby. Fast asleep in his bed.

The Onion man looked up at the sleeping dog, seeing he was in deep slumber. After thinking to himself for a little while, Chop Chop got of the floor and quietly left the room. He carefully tip toed down the stairs and into the living room, where the Karate Master promptly turned on the GameStation 2 and took a seat on the couch, holding the controller.

"Pfft, stupid Worldcraft. I'll show Parappa how much of a dumb game this is when I beat it easily." Chop Chop quietly says to himself as the Main Menu pops on the screen. The Onion presses the start button and begins a new game. After the game loads a little bit, Chop Chop's character is placed in a randomly generated blocky world.

"Oh wow, this looks awful. Who's idea was it to make everything look like an ugly block?" Master Onion criticizes as he uses the controller's analogue stick to move the character.

"...Okay now...what do I do?" Chop Chop Master Onion squints his eyes in confusion as he starts to press random buttons. After getting acquainted with the jump button and the inventory button, he ends up finding the punch button.

"Is that supposed to be my arm? It's just a rectangle. Oh well, at least I can hit stuff." The green onion man says to himself as he starts punching the ground, collecting dirt blocks.

"Okay then...now I just...build something?" The Onion Sensei places all the dirt blocks on the ground until it formed an awful looking dirt house.

As Chop Chop Master Onion was constructing his dirty, earthy home, he couldn't help but feel a sense a pride in creating something with his own hands technically.

After the Romantic Karate Expert finished building, he went to go explore the world.

"Punch Punch Punch..." The onion hummed to himself as he punched some more dirt. "Punch Punch...block...hehehe..."

While on his punching spree, Chop Chop encountered a pig.

"Oh wow, aren't you ugly." The Karate Master looks at the pink blocky polygonal creature that is a pig.

"Hey, you remind me of my Ex-Fiance! Haha...ha..." Chop Chop looks down at the floor with a saddened look briefly before he makes his character punch the pig, who squeals as it runs away.

"Damn, it's too fast." Chop Chop moans as he makes his way back to his dirt shelter.

"Alright...now what do I-" Before the onion man could finish his sentence, he spots a green anthropomorphic block creature as it casually walks up to him. Once the thing and Chop Chop are face to face, the Karate Expert speaks up.

"Uh...just what the heck are you supposed to b-"

The Onion Master gets interrupted as the green creature spontaneously explodes, destroying the dirt house and killing Chop Chop's character instantly, resulting in a game over.

Chop Chop Master Onion sits there with his jaw wide open, in clear disbelief that he was killed so quickly.

"What the hell?!" He whines as he throws his arms up in frustration. "I worked hard on that house, and that monster has the gall to disrespect the great Chop Chop Master Onion by destroying it?!"

As the Tamanegi man was ranting, he looks down at the game case, seeing a game guide inside it. He bends down to pick up the little booklet.

Chop Chop flips through the pages, seeing all the basic crafting recipes and tips for beginners.

"Hmm! Watch out Worldcraft...you're about to get a lesson from teacher!"


	25. Bonus Chapter 3, COOL MODE

(A/N: Here's what would happen if Parappa got Cool Mode on his rap from "Worldcraft, Par1.")

LESSON 1

"HIIIIIIYATATATATATA!"

"Here we go now! Time to get schoolin'! Ain't no time for jokes, no time to be foolin'! Good grades are important, from border to border! Now let's do this! Remember the kick punch order!"

"Sharpen the pencil, put on the cap eraser!"

"Sharpen the cap, the cap on the pencil!"

"Here we go! It's time to face her!"

"Here we go! H-H-Here we go! Go!"

Once Parappa reaches cool mode, Chop Chop Master Onion speaks up.

"I guess you don't need help after all! I'm gonna go make a sandwich." Chop Chop exclaims as he dives out the bedroom window, breaking the glass.

"Sharpen the cap! The Cap! Divide by the cap!"

"Write the, write the, sharpen the pencil!"

"Scribble scribble jot jot the notes!"

"Take away the cap! The notes and the cap!"

"Jot down the notes! Jot down the cap!"

"Divide by three and take away the scribble!"

"I'm pretty sure the cap, the cap is a noun!"

"Kick Punch Turn! The cap! The cap! The cap!"

"A verb, a verb! You know, you know the deal!"

"You are back! You are back for real!"

"The A, the A, the D, and the cap!"

"Bubble in the noun, the verb, and the C!"

"True False Put on the cap! Put on the True cap!"

"The A, the D, the C, and the cap!"

After Parappa finishes cool mode. Chop Chop Master Onion walks back into the bedroom with a sandwich.

"Mmmm...Good job Parappa, you wasted my time." The onion Sensei dryly says as he takes a bite.

"Yahoo! Thanks teacher!" Parappa dances around with glee as he throws all his homework in the air like confetti.


	26. Worldcraft, Part 2

The sound of the alarm clock buzzed throughout the bedroom as the awakened pup tossed and turned in his bed. The cream colored canine groaned as he reaches his arm out, tapping the off button of the digital clock. Parappa rose out of bed with a deep yawn and a stretch, and as he was about to change into his normal clothes, he notices that Chop Chop Master Onion wasn't in his bed. Usually at this time he was still sleeping, seeing how he wasn't a morning person at all. But the half awake rapper simply shrugged this off and got changed.

Parappa went through his usual morning routine; using the bathroom, brushing his teeth, putting on deodorant, etc. As he was about to head down the stairs, he saw Pinto come out of her room with the same grogginess he had.

"Mornin' Sis." Parappa tiredly greeted his sister, where as she simply groaned at him before entering the bathroom.

Parappa made his way down the steps and into the living room, and the first thing he sees is Chop Chop Master Onion, asleep on the sofa with the controller in his hands. Parappa blinked twice, making sure that what he was seeing was real. He then chuckled to himself, seeing that Chop Chop just couldn't resist the awesomeness of Worldcraft.

After Parappa and his sister had a quick breakfast of cereal, they got their backpacks ready and were about to head to school. But first, Parappa decided to wake up his sleeping karate teacher.

"Psst! Master Onion?" Parappa raised the volume of his voice, seeing if that did the trick. The Onion didn't react, as he continued to snore as a bit of drool ran down the side of his mouth.

"Yo, Master Onion! Wake up!" Parappa loudly says as he shakes his shoulder with his hand.

"UH!-Wha?! Huh!?" The karate master awoke abruptly, quickly sitting up while putting his hands in the air in a defensive karate pose.

"Whoa! Whoa! Relax teacher! It's just me!" Parappa backs up a bit, putting his hands up passively.

Chop Chop Master Onion relaxes a little bit, mumbling something incoherent as he looks around with bags under his eyes.

"Ugh...uh..wh-what time is it?" Chop Chop asks as he wipes the drool of his face with his sleeve.

"It's 6:30...did you stay up all night?" Parappa asks his incredibly tired teacher.

"...maybe..." The karate teacher looks awkwardly at the floor before he resumes the game.

"I thought Worldcraft was *garbage*?" The young pup gives Master Onion a smug look as he folds his arms.

"It uh...It is! I'm just trying to prove a point to you that this game is stupid and easy! So stupid and easy in fact, I plan to beat this game today!" Chop Chop explains in a confident tone as he starts to build a house.

"Heh, if you say so. Pinto and I gotta go to school now." Parappa says as he and his sister head out the door.

"Yeah Yeah Yeah, whatever." The Tamanegi sensei blurts out, trying to focus on the game.

"See you later Sen-"

"Sayonara!" Chop Chop waves off as he chops down some trees.

Parappa leaves the house, looking slightly hurt.

"He seems really into your game Parappa." Pinto says as the two siblings walk to school.

"Yeah...he'll probably be sick of it by the time we get back." Parappa shrugs his shoulders, assuming the onion master will lose interest soon enough.

...

A few hours go by as Chop Chop Master Onion is still playing the survival craft game. His eyes are bloodshot and irritated from looking at the screen for several hours, but the man himself seems unfazed by it. The only thing that matters to Chop Chop right now is Worldcraft.

"You think you can stop me skeleton? You don't stand a chance against me! HIYA!" The onion sensei swings a sword at the boney creature, killing it for it's experience points.

Chop Chop grabs a handful of potato chips from the chip bag next to him and shoves it in his mouth. "Mmm! No one can...mm...shtop me!" The anthropomorphic vegetable exclaims with his mouth full, clicking on the buttons of the controller rapidly.

While Chop Chop Master Onion continues to explore a cave system, Papa Rappa descends down the stairs, yawning in the process.

"*Yawn*...Man, I slept in..." The middle aged dog says to himself as he glances towards the living room, seeing Parappa's karate teacher playing on his son's GameStation 2.

"You're uh...you're up earlier than usual." Papa Rappa says, putting on his hat.

"Uh-huh..." Chop Chop moans, his full concentration is set on Worldcraft.

"So...um...Mister Onion-"

"Master Onion." The karate teacher abruptly corrects him.

"Er...right...Master Onion...you've been staying with us for a few days now." Parappa's father states, standing beside the sofa.

"Uh-huh..." The Tamanegi Sensei stares at the screen with irritated, tired eyes.

"I was wondering how long you think you will be here?" Papa Rappa puts his hand on his hip as he asks him the question.

"I dunno." The middle aged onion shrugs as his character battles a zombie.

Papa gives off a look of dissatisfaction, not liking the onion's brief answer.

"Well, if you're going to stay here for awhile, then you're going to need to pay some rent." Papa Rappa explains with a raised eyebrow, the seriousness in his tone standing out.

"Uh-huh..." Chop Chop ignores the dog, trying to enjoy his Worldcraft.

"Are you even listening?!" The adult dog sternly exclaims, not liking his attitude.

"Ugh!" Master Onion groans as he pauses his game. "What?!"

"I said if you are going to stay here any longer, you're going to need to pay rent!" Papa frowns at the karate master, losing his patience quickly.

"Well that's going to hard to do! I don't have a dojo OR a TV show anymore!" Chop Chop throws his hands up in the air, frustrated.

"Well find a job!" Papa Rappa argues back.

"Alright! Alright! I will then! Geez!" The Onion Sensei moans in annoyance as he resumes the game.

"I hope you find one by next week, because my wife is going to come home from her Aunt's then, and she isn't as lenient as I am." Papa warns the onion.

"I said okay! Gosh!" Chop Chop Master Onion shouts, just wanting to play his game in peace.

Papa Rappa shakes his head with an eyeroll as he walks away, leaving the onion alone with his video game.

...

Mid-Afternoon came rolling by as the school bus dropped off the Rappa kids near their home.

"Oh man! I owe Master Onion big time! Thanks to his help, I got a C on my Math homework, a B- on my English thing, and a C+ on my science packet!" Parappa grins, feeling quite pleasant.

"Oh wow, that's really impressive." Pinto sarcastically replies.

"I know right! He's the best!" The rap dog giggles with his usual enthusiasm as the two canine kids are about to enter their home.

"Dad! We're home!" Parappa shouts as he and his blonde little sister walk inside.

"Hey sport! Hey sweetie! How was school today?" Papa Rappa gives Pinto a hug as Parappa drops his backpack by the door.

"It was okay." Pinto innocently says as she hugs her Dad.

"It was awesome! I got good grades on my homework! All thanks to Chop Chop Master Onion!" Parappa smiles as he puts his hands on his hips.

"...Don't mention it..." Chop Chop says in a tired fashion as he slouches on the couch, still playing Worldcraft.

"Wait, have you been playing that the whole time I was at school?!" The canine boy asks the Karate Teacher with a surprised yet worried expression.

"Hai." Chop Chop answers in his language.

"Uh...hi?"

"Oh my god-I said yes Parappa." The Tamanegi Sensei groans with an eye roll as he climbs a mountain in the game.

"He only ever got up to eat and to use the bathroom." Papa adds as he looks at the onion with frown.

"Dad, can I have some noodles...I'm hungry..." Pinto rubs her tummy with hunger.

"Sure hun..." Papa pats his daughter's head as they head into the kitchen, leaving Parappa and Master Onion in the living room.

"Hey, Parappa, check this out..." Chop Chop shows off a building he just made. "See...it's my dojo..."

"That's nice..." Parappa looks at his onion master with concern, seeing how he may have become addicted to Worldcraft. "I thought you said you hated this game?"

"It's...um...it's...okay I guess." The sleep deprived vegetable utters as he eats some cheese curls from the bag on the coffee table in front of him.

"That's cool to hear...anyway, can I have a turn now?" Parappa awkwardly asks, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh, uh...In a few minutes I guess." Chop Chop blinks his tired, irritated eyes as he sucks the cheese dust off his fingers.

"Oh, alrighty then. I hope the Online mode is just as good as the Single Player." The pup casually says.

At the mention of the word *online*, all of Chop Chop Master Onion's drowsiness suddenly disappeared off his face as he shot his head towards his student.

"The what mode?" The onion questions Parappa with a look of intrigue.

"The Online Mode."

"What's that?"

"It's the mode where you get to play in a server full of people from all around the world." Parappa simply explains.

Chop Chop and Parappa stare at each other for a few uncomfortable seconds before the dog boy speaks up.

"Um...anyway...you said you will let me play in a few minutes, right?"

"Oh uh, yeah...yeah..." Master Onion mumbles as he quickly gets back to his game.

...

Three days Later...

...

It was the end of another school day in Parappa Town High as everyone was getting out of their last period classes and heading home. Parappa opened up his locker with a stressed, annoyed look on his face. Clearly he was not feeling his usual, happy self.

"Yo Parappa!"

The disgruntled pup glanced to his left, seeing both James and Caleb together.

"What do you guys want?" Parappa unenthusiastically groans upon seeing the two boys.

"Just wanted to see if you were enjoying Worldcraft so far." James says, holding the straps of his backpack.

"Gee, I wish I knew. Because ever since I brought it home, my karate teacher has been playing it non stop." Parappa frowns as he explains his situation.

"...what?" Caleb raises his eyebrow.

"I invited my homeless sensei to live at my house until he got back on his feet, and all he's done so far was get addicted to Worldcraft." Parappa sighs.

"Oh...well just kick his ass out then." James casually suggests.

"I just can't do that! Chop Chop Master Onion was the person who taught me to defend myself, and he taught me how to be an adult! I can't just throw him back out onto the street. But my Dad has almost had enough of him..." Parappa looks down to the floor, conflicted.

"...The Romantic Karate guy lives with you?" James asks, raising his eyebrow.

"He has a point James, I'm tired of all these homeless people walking around, acting all sad and poor. They need to get a job!" Caleb rants about disliking the homeless.

Just then, Parappa gets an idea. "Yeah...If Master Onion gets a job, then maybe Dad would let him stay! Thanks Caleb!" Parappa exclaims as he runs out of the school.

"See James, You CAN help the homeless by telling them to get jobs after all!" Caleb proudly smirks as James rolls his eyes.

...

Parappa and Pinto return from school at their usual time as they head inside the house.

"Yo Dad! We're h-"

"HAHA! What goes around, comes around! Nerd!" Chop Chop shouts into his headset, playing the Online Multiplayer Mode of Worldcraft. Both Parappa and Pinto jump up in a startled fashion.

Over the last few days, Chop Chop barely got off the couch. The onion has gotten sweaty and smelly from not bathing, and several snack wrappers and soda cans lay strewn about the living room. The Onion Sensei was a full blown Worldcraft addict at this point.

"Ewwww! It smells in here!" Pinto pinches her nose shut as she looks visibly disgusted of the room's scent. She runs up stairs to her room so she can escape the foul onion aroma.

"Gosh dang Sensei, would it kill you to take a shower?!" Parappa scrunches up his nose as he turns to face his Karate Teacher turned gamer.

"I have no time to shower! I have to teach these losers a lesson to not blow up my dojo!" Chop Chop explains as he grips his controller tightly, getting a little too invested in the game.

"Parappa! Can I talk to you in the kitchen? In private?" Papa Rappa calls for his son from the other room.

"Coming Dad!" Parappa shouts as he walks into the kitchen, seeing his father standing in there with his arms folded, looking quite cross.

"Hey Dad...er...what's up?" Parappa notices his Dad's demeanor.

Papa simply looks off to the side a sighs. "I'm going to kick him out."

Parappa's eyes widen, worried he was going to say that. "What?! Oh come on Dad, I-"

"Look son, I understand that you wanted to help him out. But ever since he got here, he has made zero effort to find a job, or find a new place to live, or even help around the house! Your mother is going to return in a few days, and do you know how angry she'll be when she sees some smelly middle aged guy screaming at your video game, with trash littered all around the place? I'm sorry Parappa, but I have no other choice." Parappa's father explains.

"Look Dad, if you just give me one last chance to talk to him, I can convince him to get a job!" Parappa begs, whimpering a little bit.

"If he won't listen to me, I doubt he will listen to you." The older dog bluntly says.

"Trust me, you gotta believe in me! Please..." Parappa gives him doughy eyes as he whimpers like a puppy.

After a few moments, Papa sighs, giving in. "Alright...but if you can't convince him, he's outta here." Papa explains as he heads upstairs to see how his daughter is doing.

Parappa takes one more breath of fresh air before heading back out into the living room to talk to his sensei.

"I don't care that you spent five hours building that castle! You destroy my dojo, I destroy your crap!" Chop Chop Master Onion argues with another Worldcraft player as he takes a swig of his energy drink.

"Hey Sensei, can we talk? Man to man?" Parappa asks the onion, who is focused on fighting some other Worldcraft players.

"What do you want Parappa? Can't you see I'm busy?" Chop Chop says as he taps the buttons on his controller with determination.

"I was wondering...uh...when you were going to find a job?" Parappa explains awkwardly.

"Oh god, you sound like your father." The Onion man rolls his eyes with a huff.

"Look, Dad is about ready to kick you out Master Onion! You need to find a job so you can make some money!" Parappa throws his arms up, trying to get through to him.

"I told him several times I will find a job when I'm ready!" The Worldcraft addict frowns as he blows up some guy's house.

"Well you're going to have to be ready now Sensei!" The rapping pup shouts, getting frustrated.

"I'll be ready just as soon as I'm done with this game! I cannot lose this!" Chop Chop exclaims. Parappa sees that the addiction has taken a big hold of his karate master, seeing that he would rather keep playing this game even though he's moments away from eviction.

Parappa looks at the TV screen, and then back at Chop Chop Master Onion. A lightbulb then goes off in the pup's head as he formulates a new idea.

"Y'know...if you got a job, not only could you pay rent...but you can buy DLC..." Parappa folds his arms, playing it cool.

"DLC? What's DLC?" The karate teacher looks at his student with a confused expression.

"It stands for *Downloadable Content*, it's where you can buy more content for the game online!" The rapper explains, gesturing towards the TV.

"Wait a second...you're telling me I can buy more stuff for Worldcraft online, instead of going to a store to get it?" Chop Chop asks as he pauses the game.

"Yep."

"...Whoa...can I borrow some money?"

"Ye-wait! No! No no, if you want to get more Worldcraft DLC, you will need to make some money yourself!" Parappa tells the onion.

Chop Chop Master Onion looks down to the floor, thinking to himself. After a few moments, Chop Chop turns off the GameStation 2.

"I see. Well in that case, I am going to find a job!" The vegetable stands up with newfound confidence.

"That's the spirit Sensei!" Parappa cheers on his Onion Master, happy that he was able to convince him.

As Chop Chop Master Onion was about to walk out the door for his job search, Parappa calls out to him.

"Teacher! Wait!"

"What is it Parappa?" Chop Chop turns his head back toward's the pup.

"Before you go...take a freakin' shower."


	27. Black Sheep

"NOOOOO Cutting Corners! She's on the border, NOOOOOOWWWW!"

The three band members wrap their flagship song up as they play off the last few notes inside an empty Club Fun.

Milkcan's lead singer and bassist wipes off the beads of sweat that formed on her forehead with a satisfied huff.

"Good job girls! That was perfect!" Katy Kat's smile gleamed as she looked back at her two best friends.

"The reason why it was perfect is because it's one of the only songs we've played since our concert last Summer. When are we going to write something new?" Ma-San complains, resting her head on her hand as she leaned on her drum set.

"Aww don't sweat it, Ma-San. We haven't toured outside of town yet! Our songs are still fresh!" Katy says as she lifts her bass's strap off of her.

"Well we'll need to make more songs at one point or another." The yellow mouse speaks as she climbs off her drum set seat.

"I know, and we'll cross that road once we get to it! Right Lammy?" The blue cat turns to her best friend, who was minding her own business by putting her guitar in her case.

"Huh? Oh, um, yeah Katy! Of course." Lammy innocently smiles as she looks at her blonde best friend with her droopy eyes.

Katy's tail swayed back and forth as the girl felt glad to hear that the red haired lamb agreed with her.

Ma-San pulled her cellphone out of her dress pocket, looking at the screen. "Crap, it's ten past nine. My parent's are going to flip out." The short drummer groans as she thinks about the verbal bombardment her father is going to dish out on her for being late.

"I got to go, see you dorks later." With that, Ma-San made her way out of Club Fun with haste.

"It is getting pretty late..." Katy mentions as she glances at her watch. "I gotta get going, before Mom starts to worry." The feline slings her bass case over her back.

"L-Let me walk you home." Lammy offers as she carries her guitar case like a backpack, ready to head out with her best friend.

...

It was a cold Fall night in Parappa Town, as the sky was mostly cloudy, with the exception of the half moon peeking out between the clouds. The street lamps illuminated the street as the two friends walk down the sidewalk.

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the park tomorrow? How does that sound?" Katy asks the lamb with her usual positive expression.

Lammy shot Katy a surprised look at the cat, her cheeks turning into a warm red color.

"O-Oh-um...that um...th-that sounds nice..." Lammy stutters as she smiles a bit. "J-just me and you?"

"Yeah! Me, you, and Ma-San! Maybe Sunny if she's up to it! It'll be a girls day out!" Katy shines as she brushes some of her hair away from her eyes.

"Oh...yeah...that's s-sounds great." Lammy utters, trying to hide her disappointment.

Katy sees that Lammy looks down, causing her usual smiling face to be replaced by a look of concern. "Hey Lammy...are you alright?"

Lammy's eyes widen a little bit as she sees that Katy knows something is wrong. "Oh! Uh-yeah! Yeah! I-I'm perfectly fine! J-just...um...tired, hehe..." The lamb awkwardly giggles as she rubs the back of her head.

"Yeah, it's been a long day, hasn't it?" Katy looks up to the cloudy night sky, steam coming out of her mouth as she exhales.

The two girls silently keep walking for a little while until the blonde feline finally breaks the quietude.

"It's getting a lot colder now, huh?" The cat casually says, shivering a little due to the chilly air.

"Y-yeah...I can't believe it's October already..." Lammy looks down to the ground, putting her hands in her armpits for warmth. The redhead is starting to regret her decision of not wearing a long sleeved shirt today, and glancing over at her best friend, she can tell Katy's thinking the same thing.

The two friends feel the crunch of the fallen leaves beneath their feet. The trees were all orange and red, and in a couple weeks, they will turn brown. Soon enough, they will all be barren.

"You know, one of the perks of living in an apartment is that we don't have to rake leaves." Katy grins at the lamb, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah...hehe..." Lammy lightly smiles back at the cat, as she immediately looks back down at the sidewalk.

The MilkCan girls finally reach Katy's apartment building.

"W-well...I'll see you tomorrow then?" Lammy asks Katy as she awkwardly tries to avoid eye contact.

"Yeah! We'll have fun!" Katy blushes a bit as she giggles. The tip of her tail flicked back with delight.

"Yeah...well...s-see you later Katy..." Lammy ungainly waves goodbye as she begins to walk home.

"Lammy, wait a sec!" The blonde feline calls out to her.

"H-huh?" The lamb utters as she turns around.

Katy runs up to her and wraps her up in a big hug. Lammy's eyes widen as her face turns red like a tomato. That took her completely by surprise. Lammy returns the hug as well as she wraps her arms around her torso.

Katy lets go of her as she shines her trademark smile. "See you later, Lammy." With that, Katy heads into the apartment building.

"She hugged me..." The young guitarist gushed as she held her hands to her warm, rosy cheeks.

Lammy has been developing feelings for her best friend. Feelings that make her...happy. For the last few months, she had been pondering to herself if these feelings were genuine. Maybe she just thought of Katy as a really good friend? She can't like Katy this way, right? Lammy was a girl...shouldn't that mean that she should like boys and not girls? Well, Lammy never really felt that way about boys before...and often times when she watches TV, or when she's in school, she sees cute girls. She's never thought of any boy as cute before, even if the boy was considered good looking. After months of contemplating with herself, she had come to the definite conclusion...

She was gay.

...

Lammy snapped out of her little trance as she began to make her way to her apartment building.

The lamb held the straps to her guitar case as she shivered a little, still quite cold.

"That hug was so...nice." Lammy thought to herself as she walked down the sidewalk illuminated by street lights. "She was so warm...and she smelled good..."

Lammy realized what she just thought to herself as she gave herself a face palm, feeling embarrassed.

"She smelled good? God Lammy, even in your own mind you can't stop being weird." The redhead scolded herself.

Before Lammy could beat herself up more, she hears something coming from behind. Footsteps, and the sound of leaves crunching. She quickly glanced back to see what it was.

It was a figure, a black silhouette disguised by the darkness of night. Whoever or whatever it was, it was following her, and it was picking up it's pace.

Lammy broke into a cold sweat as she felt anxious, she felt dread, she felt fear.

The guitarist began to walk faster, wanting nothing more than for this figure to go away. She could hear the footsteps behind her get quicker too. With this, Lammy panicked. She broke out into a full sprint, desperately trying to lose her stalker. Lammy gasped for breath the farther she ran, her lungs screaming for air. Her stalker is running too, she could hear it.

The terrified lamb was almost crying, she was so scared. If she continued to run straight down the road, she would lose energy. She couldn't make it to the safety of her apartment that way. In an act of desperation, Lammy cut into the nearby alleyway, hoping to lose whoever is following her between the buildings.

The lamb immediately regretted her rash decision as she sees that the rest of the alley was blocked by a chain link fence. She wasn't nearly athletic enough to climb it. She was trapped.

Lammy pushed at the fence with all her might, trying to somehow break it down. But to no avail.

The scared teen turned around and put her arms over her face, trying to shield herself from whatever is about to happen.

"P-P-PLEASE! D-Don't hurt me!" The sobbing lamb begged the figure as it approached her slowly.

"Oh God, you really are a wimp."

Lammy opened her eyes as she sees the now visible person who was following her.

It was Rammy. She was wearing her black T-shirt with the skull emblem on it, and dark gray jeans.

"R-Rammy?" The lamb put her arms back down upon seeing the gray skinned lamb.

"Oh pleeeease don't hurt meee! Ha! You should have seen the stupid look on your face! It was priceless haha!" The black haired girl mocked her look alike with a snort heavy laugh.

"Y-you r-r-really scared m-me..." Lammy wipes the tears from her eyes, upset over the whole situation.

"Oh quit crying you puss. Grow up!" Rammy rolls her eyes at the sight of the sensitive lamb, still visibly shaken.

"Wh-what are you doing here? I-I thought y-you lived in Hell...or something." Lammy utters as she takes slow, calm breaths. Still out of breath from running.

"Uh...yeah! I did!...Now I live here!" Rammy exclaims as she folds her arms.

"Oh...um...wh-where?" The lamb asks her doppelganger with her usual stutter.

"...I'm not telling you where I live! I don't want you showing up uninvited!" The dark colored teen shouts with a frown, every time she picks up her voice, Lammy flinches.

"Oh...uh...alright then..." Lammy looks down at the ground awkwardly as Rammy still frowns at her.

A few very uncomfortable moments pass by as Rammy shivers a little bit, thanks to the cold, crisp air.

"A-are you cold?" Lammy asks, seeing her shiver.

"What? No! I don't get cold! I'm not some sensitive loser like you!" The black haired girl snaps back with an attitude, where as Lammy shrinks back a little.

"W-why are you so mean?..." Lammy has a sad expression on her face as she rubs her arms, clearly not comfortable with being yelled at.

"...what's that on your shirt?" Rammy points at Lammy's shirt with a confused look.

"Huh? What's AAA-" As Lammy went to look down, Rammy quickly brought her finger up and hit the poor lamb's nose.

The red haired teen holds her nose with her hand, on the verge of tears. "Th-that really hurt..."

"HahahaHA! I can't believe you fell for THAT one! You're such an idiot!" Rammy mocks her counterpart, being a bully.

Lammy sniffles as she begins to cry, she runs past Rammy, accidently barging into her shoulder as the bullied lamb runs home with tears streaming down her face.

Rammy just stands there for a few moments before shouting. "YEAH! You better run! HA!" The gray teen yelled, hoping Lammy would hear.

After a couple seconds of silence, Rammy lets out a deep sigh as she walks home. She rubs her hands together, trying to warm them up. She blows warm air into both of her hands, the steam of her breath evaporating into the chilly night air. She pulls out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, opening it up. Rammy groans as she sees that she's down to her last smoke. She takes the cigarette out and discards the empty pack onto the street. She puts it in her mouth as she takes out a lighter from her opposite pocket. After a few flicks, the small orange flame emerges as Rammy lights the cigarette. She takes a long drag and exhales the smoke from out of her nose, as if she's done this hundreds of times before.

With the lit cigarette dangling from her mouth, she finally reaches her home. It was an abandoned house on the outskirts of town. The grass on the lawn must have been a foot high as boards blocked the windows of the small one-story house. The front door had the word *condemned* written on it, but that didn't matter to Rammy apparently as she opened up the old wooden door, making a loud creaking noise in the process.

The inside of the house was barren of furniture, with dust floating in the air and cobwebs in the corners. Rammy walked into the living room, were there was a lone mattress laying in the corner of the room with a single blanket. Next to the mattress was an battery powered electric lamp, and Rammy's guitar case.

"Home sweet home..." Rammy sighs to herself as she throws her cigarette butt on the floor, stepping on it.

She lays down on the mattress, covering herself up with the blanket. She shivers as cold air blows inside the house due to the windows not being properly sealed.

The dark colored lamb closes her eyes, going to bed cold and hungry.


	28. The Berri Boys

It was a cool October Saturday morning, and everything was nice and peaceful at the Berri household. Mrs. Berri was already awake, she was wearing a pink cooking apron over her lime green sundress, along with her favorite maroon colored cloche hat. The cappuccino colored teddy bear hummed a little tune to herself as she fried some eggs with cheese over the stove.

Meanwhile, Mr. Berri walked through the kitchen doorway. Stretching out his arms with a tired yawn.

"Mornin' hun." The mustached teddy bear smiles as he hugged his wife lovingly from behind, wrapping his arms around the woman's waist.

"Good morning." Mrs. Berri smirked as she nuzzled her husband's cheek.

Mr. Berri didn't wear any clothes, much like his son, besides a red tie that he had around his neck.

"Smells good." The patriarch of the Berri household commented as he looked at the eggs frying in the pan, still hugging his wife.

"It'll be done shortly." Mrs. Berri says, tossing around the eggs with a spatula.

As the married couple continue to snuggle in the kitchen, their only son enters the kitchen as well, rubbing the crust from his eyes with a yawn.

"I smell eggs." PJ mumbles as he takes a seat at the kitchen table, all while still being half asleep.

"Mornin' PJ." Mr. and Mrs. Berri says unanimously as they turn their attention to their child.

PJ tiredly moans at them as she rests his head on his forearm.

PJ's Mom serves the eggs with cheese at the table as the whole family takes a seat to enjoy their breakfast.

"Thanks Mom..." PJ smiles a little bit as he receives his eggs.

"You're welcome honey pie." The female teddy bear says with her usual motherly tone.

"How are ya son?" His father asks, trying to make conversation.

"mmph...shleepy." PJ answers with droopy eyes, his mouth full with food.

"Aww, my sleepy little angel!" His Mom coos as she rubs his head.

"Moooom! Knock it off!" PJ whines, not liking being treated like a little kid.

"So, what are you and Pachinko going to do today?" The mustached bear asks, taking a bite of his eggs.

PJ rolls his eyes with a sigh. "Dad, for the millionth time, his name is Parappa. And secondly, we're not hanging out today."

PJ's Dad shoots a somewhat surprised look at his son. "Wait, really? You and Parocko hang out almost every day! Especially Saturdays!"

"I know, but Parappa's Mom is coming home today, since she was gone for the last month visiting her sick family. So Parappa wants to stay home and spend the day with her." The young teddy bear explains as he finishes the last of his breakfast.

After hearing this, the father bear gets an idea. "Hey, since you're not going to be with Palappa today...I was thinkin'...maybe we can spend the day together!" Mr. Berri smiles brightly, wanting to spend the day with his boy.

"Oh gee, I dunno...I sorta planned to loiter around the Phat Donut today until they tell me to leave." PJ looks down at his empty plate as he speaks.

Mr. Berri looks down to the floor with a sad expression after hearing that. Mrs. Berri sees her husbands upset demeanor and decides to speak up.

"Oh come on now PJ, it's been awhile since you and your father had some quality father-and-son bonding. I think it would be good for both of you to go out and do something." PJ's Mother interjects as she winks at her husband, who smiles warmly in response.

"Yeah son! I promise ya, you and I will have fun!" Mr. Berri states with a happy tone.

After contemplating silently to himself, PJ sighs. "Well...okay I guess."

"YES!" Mr. Berri shouts with glee as he gets up out of his seat and picks up his son, wrapping him up in a bear hug. PJ looks like he is about to suffocate as his Dad squeezes him a little too tight.

"Theodore! You're being too rough!" Mrs. Berri scolds her husband.

Upon hearing this, the papa bear lets PJ go.

"Hehe...sorry about that son." PJ's Dad apologizes as he rubs the back of his head, meanwhile PJ gasps for air in a cartoonish fashion.

...

A little bit later, PJ and his Dad are driving down the highway out of town in the family's dark green sedan.

"So...where are we going again?" PJ asks in a tired voice as he sits in the passenger seat.

"You'll find out soon enough! We'll be there soon!" The mustached bear smiles as he focuses on the road, gripping the steering wheel in the 9-3 position.

"Are we gonna get something to eat?!" PJ looks up at his Dad with a silly smile.

"Nope! Even better!" Theodore says to his son.

A look of disappointment appears on the young teddy bear's face as he sighs. "Nothing is better than food..."

"For you maybe, but do you know what I think is better than food?" Mr. Berri glances over at his boy.

"What?"

"Being with my son." The papa bear shines a bright smile, clearly happy.

PJ looks up with wide eyes before looking out the window, with a little smile on his face. "Dad..."

Before the teenage bear could say anything else, Mr. Berri exits the freeway as they appear at their destination.

"We're here!" PJ's Dad exclaims as they pull in to the "Putty Putty Mini Golf Course."

"Mini Golf?" PJ shoots a confused look at his Dad.

"Yeah! Your Grandpa used to take me mini golfing a lot when I was a boy. I want to do the same with you!" Papa Berri explains as he exits the vehicle.

The father and son duo went up to the kiosk and got their golf clubs. The two bears then went over to the first hole.

"Alright my boy, now let me show you how it's done." Mr. Berri confidently states as he places his red golf ball on the starting place.

The first hole was simple, all you had to do was hit the ball over a little hill and into the hole at the top.

The adult teddy bear carefully aims his putter and taps the ball. The little red golf ball went halfway up the hill before gravity took over and made it roll back to him.

"Uh..." Mr. Berri glanced at his son, who in return gave him an unimpressed look. "...that was just practice..."

Papa Bear positioned the ball in front of him and hit it again, the ball managed to get up the hill this time, but it stopped right next to the hole.

"Ha! That's how a pro does it!" The grown teddy bear shined a confident look as his son went to go next.

PJ dropped his little green golf ball in front of him as he steadied his putter. Several seconds go by as PJ just stands there, holding his putter right next to the ball, not moving.

"Uh...PJ? You can hit the ball now...it's your turn." Mr. Berri raised his eyebrow at his son, confused why he's not hitting the golf ball.

Upon further inspection, the mustached teddy bear discovers that PJ had fallen asleep.

"Hey! Pssst. PJ, wake up!" The man tapped his sleeping son's shoulder, who woke up with a shake. "Wh-whuh? Huh? Oh..."

The 14 year-old bear nonchalantly tapped the green golf ball without much effort. By some odd stroke of luck, the ball went right into the hole.

"Oh, well look at that." PJ says in a mildly surprised tone, all the while his Dad just stands there dumbfounded.

"What?! How did you?!...oh, nevermind, let's just move on to the next hole..." The papa teddy bear says as he and his soon move onto hole 2.

This hole seemed to be a bit more tricky, as you had to hit the ball over a narrow bridge to get to the other side where the hole was.

"Alright! Here we go." Theodore narrows his eyes as he taps his red golf ball. The ball got halfway across the bridge before falling into the little sand trap beneath it.

"Crap! Ughhh." Mr. Berri face palms himself as he went into the sand pit to hit his ball. It took him 5 tries before he managed to sink his golf ball into the hole.

"Alright son, you're up." Papa bear sighs, not liking the fact he's now losing.

PJ whistles a little tune as he casually plops the little green golf ball in front of him and hits it a second later, not even taking the time to aim.

"Oh c'mon PJ. You should at least try to take this game seri-"

As Mr. Berri was about to scold his son, he stopped mid-sentence as he sees the ball glide right over the bridge and into the hole, resulting in another hole-in-one.

PJ's Dad's jaw dropped as his eyes were wide open.

"Oh wow, another one." PJ yawns as he picks up his ball and heads to hole 3.

The third hole was trickier than the first two, in order to make it to the hole, you would have to hit the ball over a little pond.

As Mr. Berri was about to go first, he stopped in his tracks. "You know what...why don't you go first PJ? I want to see how you fare." PJ's Dad steps back, letting his son play first.

"Good luck getting a hole-in-one here." Mr. Berri smugly thought to himself as PJ dropped his golf ball in front of him and hit it.

The green ball flew right across the pond and landed right inside the hole.

"I'm on a roll!" PJ cheered himself on as his Dad looked like he was on the verge of a meltdown.

"Oh c'mon!" Theodore shouted with a mix of frustration and disbelief. "PJ, answer me honestly, are you taking steroids? Performance Enhancing Drugs?"

"Well, I did take two vitamin gummies instead of one this morning." PJ recalls as he taps his finger against his chin. His Dad once again face palmed himself.

"Oh never mind, it's my turn." PJ's Father plopped his ball down in front of him and carefully aimed his putter. The adult bear put a little power into his shot, hoping to clear the pond just like his son. Unfortunately for him, as soon as the ball went over the ramp, it fell into the water hazard with a ker-plunk.

"Oh come on!" Mr. Berri balled up his fists, frowning at his misfortune. He fished the ball out of the pond and tried again, just to end up in the same predicament.

The adult bear gritted his teeth as he tugged his tie with a hard yank. All the while PJ fell asleep standing up.

He fished the red golf ball out of the pond again and placed the ball down at the start.

"Okay...no more mister nice guy!" Mr. Berri says with determination. Narrowing his eyes and gripping the handle of his putter even tighter. "I have no choice but to use my super teddy bear strength!" He shouts as he flexes his doughy arms.

The bear reels back his putter, as if it were a regular golf club, and swings it as hard as he could. The ball flies way over the pond, and way over the hole as well. The flying red golf ball hit a tree on the other side of the hole and ricocheted back at Mr. Berri, and before he could react, the ball hit him right in the forehead. Knocking him out cold.

...

"Dad?! Dad! Wake up! Wake up!"

The adult teddy bear opened his eyes, seeing nothing but a blurry brown blob at first, but as his eyes adjusted, he sees his son. Standing over him with a worried look on his face.

"Ugh...what...what happened?" The dazed father rubs his sore forehead, feeling a big lump forming in the middle of it.

"You got knocked out cold by your own ball..." PJ explains as he helps his Dad back on his feet.

"I don't think we should play anymore..." The young teddy bear gives his father a worried expression.

Theodore looks down at the ground with sadness and shame. "I'm sorry son...I just wanted us to have a fun time...but I got carried away and ruined everything...I'm a bad dad."

PJ immediately gave his upset father a big comforting hug. "You're not a bad dad...you're an awesome dad! You tried, and that's what matters! I...I love you pop."

Mr. Berri smiles warmly at his son, returning the hug, not as hard this time. "Aww, I love you too PJ...is there anything I can do to make this day better?"

PJ stops and thinks for a moment. "Can we get some lunch?" The hungry little teddy bear looks up at his dad with big puppy dog eyes.

"Hehe...that's sounds like a plan." Mr. Berri giggles as he wraps his arm around his son's shoulder, walking away from the golf course.

"Hey PJ?"

"Yeah Dad?"

"Do you mind if you drive this time, because I think I have a concussion."


	29. Mom

It was a cool Autumn Saturday morning. The neighborhood was peaceful like usual, the occasional car driving by, a few people are out raking the leaves that has shed from the once green trees. It seemed like a lazy Saturday in general. A lazy Saturday for all except for one particular family.

"A little to the right...aaaaaaaaand there!" The middle aged canine gets off the step-ladder as he examines his handiwork.

Papa Rappa hung up a banner in the living room, one that reads *WELCOME HOME MOM!*

"How are the balloons coming?" Papa looks over at his two children, who were decorating the living room with balloons. Primarily the ones with corny messages like *WELCOME BACK* and *I LOVE YOU MOM*.

"All done!" Parappa exclaims as he and his little sister finish tying the balloons down around the living room.

"I can't wait for Mommy to get home...I miss her so much..." Pinto whimpers, longing for her mother to return.

"Don't worry sweetie, she'll be here soon." Papa Rappa pats his daughter on the shoulder. "Alright...we have the banner up, and the balloons too. I feel like we're forgetting something though..." The older dog rubs his chin in thought.

"...a clown?" Parappa shrugs his shoulders.

"No clown! No clown!" Pinto shouts, freaked out over the mention of clowns.

"Parappa, this is just a little welcome back party, not a kids birthday party." After saying that, Papa realized what he forgot. "Aaaa! I forgot to get a cake!" He groans with a face palm.

"We can't have a welcome back party without a cake! A party without a cake is like a rap battle without me!" Parappa exclaims.

Papa Rappa looks down at his watch. "Hmm...we still have some time before she gets here. I'll go to the store real quick and get one."

"Ooo! Can I pick out which one?" Pinto asks her Dad with an innocent expression.

"Sure sweetie." Her father says as he puts on his jacket.

"Yay!" The blonde puppy cheers as she too slips on her pink coat.

"You want me to come too?" Parappa looks over at his father, who is in a hurry.

"No, I want you to stay here in case your mother comes home early." Papa explains as he is about to head out the door. As he reaches for the door knob, he freezes. "Oh, and uh...watch out for him." Papa Rappa points upstairs, referring to the homeless and still unemployed Karate Master.

"Chop Chop Master Onion? Why are you worried about him?" The young pup raises his eyebrow at his father's request.

"Because if you're not here, I don't want your mother to come home to see some random guy playing on your game. Plus, I only told her that we have a guest staying with us...If she found out how unpleasant he really is, she might be upset." Parappa's Dad makes his request clear.

"Chop Chop's not unpleasant! He's the opposite! He's...uh...ununpleasant!"

"You mean pleasant?"

"Whatever! Plus, he's still sleeping. So he probably won't even be up by the time Mom gets here." Parappa responds as he leans against the arm of the sofa.

"He's still sleeping?! It's almost Noon!" Papa looks at his son in a bewildered fashion.

"Sensei says that sleeping in is almost like meditating." Parappa shrugs.

"C'mooooon! We have to go Daddy! I don't want to miss Mom coming home!" Pinto whines as she tugs on her Dad's arm, clearly impatient.

"Okay! Okay! We're going! We'll be back in a bit!" Papa says his goodbyes as he and Pinto head out the door.

After his father and sister leave, Parappa scratches his butt as he heads up the staircase.

He quietly opens the door to his room, just enough to peek his head in. The young teen sees his karate teacher still sleeping on the floor, as well as his boombox, who is sitting at the foot of Parappa's bed while reading his secret Electronics Monthly magazine with an aroused look.

"Zzzz...kick...punch...zzzz." Chop Chop Master Onion sleep talks as he toss and turns in his sleeping spot on the floor.

"Pfft...silly sensei." Parappa quietly chuckles to himself as he stealthily closes the door.

The rap dog walks back into the living room and plops himself down on the sofa. Kicking his feet up on the coffee table.

"I wonder what's on TV?" Parappa says to himself as he turns on the television with the remote.

*Click*

"Hello everyone, I'm Joe Newspaper, and here are today's top stories." The newscaster clears his throat as he looks at the papers in front of him.

"Last night in Parappa Town, a house on Sycamore Avenue was burned down. Fire officials say that it is unclear what caused the initial fire, but they have ruled out arson. Luckily, the family inside came out unscathed. Here's Pete Microphone at the scene."

The News then cuts to a field reporter with a microphone for a head standing in front of the burned down house.

"Thanks Joe, I'm here at the scene now with Fire Chief Walter Puddle." The camera turns slightly to the right, revealing the overweight Dalmatian. "Chief Puddle, what can you tell us about this fire?"

"Well, when we first-"

"Uh...speak in the mic please." The reporter looks at the dog with a creeped out expression as he points to the microphone he has at his hand, whereas the Fire Chief was speaking right into his ear.

"Oh, uh...well, when we first got here last night, I smelled something yummy and crispy. I thought that the family had some steaks cookin in there, but it turned out it was just their cat." The canine chief explains, the reporter awkwardly looking at him in response.

"Uh...alright...anything else?"

"Well, the family got out okay, but everything inside that house is burnt to a crisp. The only thing that was left untouched was some creepy looking doll-"

*Click*

"Boooooring." Parappa moans with boredom as he changes channels.

"Welcome back to Ultra Championship Wrestling! Currently underway is a match up between Flipper McFlip and the reigning UCW Champion Dan *Dough Boy* Douglas!" The announcer shouts as the camera shows two wrestlers grappling each other inside the wrestling ring.

"There goes Flipper with the flipper slaps!" The blue penguin wrestler slaps his overweight human opponent over and over again with his flipper.

"He's still giving Dough Boy the slap! And again! And again. And again..."

"Oh just wait a second! Dough Boy just reversed it with a clothesline!"

"My god, he almost took Flipper's head clean off!"

"Wait! What's Dough Boy doing?!"

"It...It appears he's climbing to the top turnbuckle!"

"He's turning around...oh god he's not doing what I think he's about to do!"

"A guy who's a hundred pounds overweight is about to perform a 450 backwards shooting star press! This should end well!"

"There he goes and BAH GOD HE JUST LANDED ON HIS NECK!"

"I expected this to happen to be honest..."

"BAH GOD ALMIGHTY STOP THE MATCH! STOP THE DAMN MATCH-"

*Click*

"Fake." Parappa sighs in an unrelieved fashion. "Nothing good is ever on."

The teen yawns as he goes to change the channel, but unknowingly hits the dark green, rectangular button. With the click of the button, Parappa's Dad's experimental shrink ray activates, shooting a light blue energy beam towards the windowsill. Parappa turns his head towards the noise and jumps out of his seat with fright as he sees his father's work in progress go off.

The shrink ray appears to be on it's growth mode as the ray's target begins to enlarge. As the beam dissipates, Guru Ant, who is now about six feet tall, is sitting on the windowsill. He has a "Thorax Galore" magazine in two of his hands as his eyes are widened with shock. The purple insect throws the magazine out of his hands as he freaks out.

"Wh-wh-WHAT THE?! Wh-why am I not my normal size! I'm too big! I'm TOO BIG!" The frantic ant holds his head with all four of his hands as he loses his cool.

"Oh shoot! I'm sorry teacher!" Parappa apologizes, trying to calm down the Guru.

After a few moments pass, Guru Ant takes a deep breath through his nose, and exhales out of his mouth. "Parappa...I would love nothing more than for you to turn me back to normal. Can you please do that?" He explains as he regains his usual calm composure.

"Oh! Uh, yeah sure. No problem!" The young teen pup utters as he taps the green rectangular button again.

...

Nothing happens.

"...I told you to turn me back!" The Guru becomes panicky once again as Parappa nervously flinches.

"I-I'm trying! Nothing's happening!" The pup exclaims as he continues pressing the button, only for absolutely nothing to happen each time.

As Parappa attempts to conciliate the unnerved anthropomorphic ant, Papa's shrink ray fizzles and sparks. Due to all the commotion being made by Parappa and Guru Ant, neither of them notice the machine malfunctioning. Even when the contraption ignites with a small flame.

"Are you trying to play me like a fool, kid?! This isn't funny anymore!" The aggravated guru shouts at the poor kid, whimpering from the hostility.

"I-I'm not tryin' to play you! I swear! This thing isn't working!" Parappa mumbles, not wanting to look at the ant's angry face.

As they continue to bicker and fight, the shrink ray's fire becomes bigger as the machine is now engulfed in flames.

"Well!...I don't know, put new batteries in it!" The ant raises his top set of arms in a frustrated fashion as his bottom set of arms are on his hips.

"I put new batteries in this thing yesterday! It shouldn't need new ones yet!" Parappa argues, getting a little vexed himself.

"Well maybe you bought cheap ass batteries?!" Guru Ant frowns.

"Hey! I'll have you know these are Supercell brand batteries! These are-" Before the pup could finish his sentence, he sniffed the air with a disgusted look. "Wait...do you smell something...smoky?"

Guru Ant sniffs the air too. "Huh?...yeah...it kinda smells like...bacon."

"Bacon doesn't smell like burning plastic." Parappa stares at the big ant man.

"...Okay, I never ate bacon before! So what?!" The guru folds his arms as he looks to the ground with minor embarrassment.

"You never had bacon before?" Parappa gasps with shock at this sudden revelation.

"It's kinda hard to eat bacon when you're a centimeter tall okay!" Guru Ant shouts, getting defensive.

"Well I mean you can **OH MY GOSH!** " Parappa screams as he finally turns around to see his father's shrink ray on fire.

The dog and the ant look on in horror for a second before Parappa speaks again. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh okay okay okay I have to stay calm. I have to-"

"aaaaAAAAAA **AAAAA!"** Guru Ant immediately lost the last bit of cool he had left as he panics, running around in circles while flailing his four arms.

As Parappa is desperately trying to think of a way to put out the fire and calm down the purple bug at the same time, Chop Chop Master Onion descends down the stairs with a tired, annoyed expression.

"What the hell is with all the noise?! I was in the middle of the best dream where I was in my Dojo playing Worldcr-" The Karate Master stops dead in his tracks as he finally sees the madness going on.

"Sensei, please do something!" Parappa pleads his teacher with tears in his eyes, the dog was frightened and confused.

Chop Chop's heart begins to pound as he looks at his student, then at the screaming ant person, and then at the burning shrink ray. All with an alarmed look plastered on the Onion's face.

A moment later, that look on his face was gone, replaced with a face of determination. Chop Chop Master Onion cautiously approached the blazing machine, smelling the smoke and feeling the searing heat as he got next to it. With a fierce but alert look in his eyes, Chop Chop got in a fighting stance.

"HIIIIIYATATATATATAAAA! Kick!" Master Onion yelled as he karate kicked the machine off the little table it was on and onto the floor. All this accomplished was that the carpet was beginning to burn as well. Plus as Chop Chop Master Onion kicked the burning invention, his pant leg caught fire.

"AAAAACHOTOTOTOTOT **AAAAAA!** " The Karate Teacher screamed with fright as he began to drop to the floor and roll around, desperately trying to stop his worn karate robes from burning.

Parappa was so scared and confused on what to do he started to cry. His unsteady breathing and panicked whimpering was deafened by the screams coming from the Guru and the karate master. The front door then opened a moment later.

Papa Rappa and Pinto walked through the door. "Hey, we're ba-" Was all Papa was able to say before he saw the chaos unfolding in the living room. The middle aged dog dropped the cake he was holding with fear in his eyes as Pinto let out a piercing scream.

"DAD! HELP!" Parappa ran towards his father, scared out of his mind.

Pinto continued to scream and cry at the sight of the spreading fire and the two fully grown men panicking as Papa Rappa desperately tried to think of a plan.

"Parappa! Take your sister and go outside! Then call 9-1-1! I'm going to try to put out the fire! Now go!" Papa demands as he grabs a blanket from the couch to attempt to smother the fire.

Parappa takes a hold of the sobbing Pinto's shoulders, trying to talk over Guru Ant's and Chop Chop's screams. "Pinto! PINTO! We have to go! We have to go!"

"B-B-But D-Daddy!" Pinto sniffles and sobs, not wanting to escape without her father.

"He'll be okay! Please! We have to go!" Parappa begs his little sister.

"I-I WANT M-MOMMY!" Pinto howls, terrified.

Parappa has no other choice, he bent down and picked up Pinto. As he was about to run out the door, it swings open.

"MOM!"

Parappa and Pinto shout in unison as they see their mother come in. The blonde canine woman dropped her luggage as she stared at the mayhem going on in her living room. A screaming Ant dressed as some kind of guru running around in circles, an onion man partially on fire rolling on the floor, her two terrified children staring at her, and her husband attempting to smother the fire with a blanket.

Without saying a word, Mama Rappa bolted towards the kitchen, hurdling over the burning man with ease. She threw open the doors to the cabinet under the sink and pulled out a fire extinguisher. She rushed back into the living room and immediately dosed the flames with the white, foamy agent. After that fire has been put out she sprayed Chop Chop, stopping his robes from burning even more. The house was saved in a matter of ten seconds.

Chop Chop and Guru Ant stop screaming as The Rappa family rejoice in a hug.

"Mom!", "Mommy!", "Honey!" Parappa, Pinto, and Papa exclaimed all at once as they hugged the returning mother.

"My babies!" The blonde woman kissed both her children several times before kissing her husband passionately.

Chop Chop Master Onion stares at the blonde cream colored dog with a blush as she embraces her family.

"What happened?" She asks, wondering what had happened moments before she arrived.

"I-I tried to change the channel and then the thingy made Guru Ant big and he yelled at me and-and-and It caught on fire!" Parappa gasps for air after he quickly explains in one breath.

"Wait what?!" Papa Rappa quickly glances down at the burnt machine covered in foam, realizing that it was in fact his machine. "Oh no!" Papa looks saddened over the destruction of his shrink ray.

"Excuse me? Not to interrupt this little family reunion. But I need to get small again." Guru Ant says, calming down a little now that the fire is gone.

Papa stares at the bearded ant with a death glare as he points to the crispy machine, hoping the guru would put two and two together.

After a few seconds at looking at the ruined shrink ray, Guru Ant finally gets the idea. "Oh...just...just fix it up."

"Fix it up? Fix it up?! Do you know what kind of materials are used to make a shrink ray? Let's just say that they're expensive." Papa Rappa frowns at the insect, not in the mood for games.

"Well what am I going to do? Everything I own is unusable at this point!" The ant complains, folding his arms again.

"Well, there's a decent hotel downtown. You can stay there until I eventually make another shrink ray." The older dog suggests, readjusting his hat.

"Hotel? I've been living in this house for six years, you can't just kick me to the curb!" The guru protests, not wanting to leave his home.

"Come on Dad, he has a point." Parappa speaks up, defending the guru.

"No!..." The father crosses his arms with a huff.

"Honey, if he's been living here, we can't kick him out of his own home." The firefighter says, siding with the purple ant as well.

Papa looks into his wife's dark beady eyes for a while until he exhales. "Okay...alright. Fine."

"Speaking of, didn't you say we have another person staying here?" The blonde canine asks her husband as she picks up her daughter with ease, holding her.

"Oh yeah... _him._ " Papa points at the karate teacher with the semi burnt karate robes.

"K-Kon-Kon...Konichiwa." The onion blushes as he awkwardly bows.

Just then the woman's face lit up with surprise. "Hang on a minute, I know you!"

"Y-you do?" Chop Chop raises his eyebrow.

"Yeah! You're the guy from Romantic Karate, right? You have no idea how much I loved that show!" The woman smiles brightly at the onion, all the while Papa Rappa is shocked upon finding out his wife is a fan of him.

"Really?" Chop Chop rubs the back of his neck with a smile.

"Yeah! I was so sad when it suddenly ended! Why was it cancelled?" She asks the former local television star, expressing disappointment that the show stopped.

"Oh! Well uh...um...It was cancelled because..er...my Romantic Karate skill was so good, it made the owner of the studio very jealous! Yes! So that was why I don't have a show anymore...and then I became homeless...and loveless..." Chop Chop slouched with sadness.

"Aww, you poor thing. You can stay here for as long as you need to!" The canine woman puts a comforting hand on the onion's shoulder, making him blush more now.

"W-why thank you Mrs. Rappa." He cheers up after hearing that, all the while Papa Rappa quietly murmurs to himself. "Great..."

"Ah, I'm not one for formalities. Just call me by my first name, Phoenix!" She adjusts her grip on Pinto with a grin.

"Okay...Phoenix." Chop Chop Master Onion reddens as he smirks a little.

"Sooooo, where am I gonna sleep?" Guru Ant interrupts the conversation.

"Well, I guess you can stay in my room." Parappa offers casually.

"No! No way! I'm not letting any more grown men sleep in your room Parappa." Papa bluntly states, putting his hands on his hips.

"He's not going to stay in my room, right Daddy?" Pinto looks at her father, not wanting to share a room with him.

"Don't worry Sweetie, if he does, I'll call the police." Papa assures his daughter.

"Well can I stay in your ro-"

"No!" Papa barks at the purple insect. "I'll make some space for you in the attic."

The grown dog looks down at the burnt machine, as well as the burnt carpet surrounding it. He sighs with dismay, not looking forward to throwing away the contraption he's worked so hard on, and replacing the living room carpet with something that isn't burnt.

"Oh relax honey." Phoenix puts her daughter down and hugs her husband. "I'm really glad to be back...and tonight, we're going to have some _fun._ " She smirks as the married couple both lovingly giggle with each other.

"Alright! We're going to have some fun!" Parappa smiles at hearing this, not understanding what his mom literally meant. "Yaaay!" Pinto cheers too.

The husband and wife look at each other with discomfort before speaking. "Uh...yeah! We'll have a family fun night!" Mama Rappa rolls along with it.

"Nothing says family fun night like a game of _Existence._ " Parappa folds his arms with a smile.

...

Later that night, the Rappa's, Chop Chop Master Onion, and Guru Ant sit at the kitchen table, playing Existence. Which is a board game that basically is the Parappa version of _Life._

Parappa spins the number wheel and moves his character piece. The rapper stops at the space and picks up a card.

"Due to all the hardwork you do at the office, your boss gives you an additional $1000 on payday! Yeah!" Parappa cheers after he reads the card, putting more play money into his pile.

Next it was the Guru's turn. He spins the wheel and moves his piece.

"After getting into a heated argument with your grandma, you murder her in cold blood. Go directly to jail...ah crap." Guru Ant huffs with frustration as he drops the card, mad that he got penalized.

It was then the karate teacher's turn. He moves his character piece to the space and collects his card.

"After losing interest with you, your fiancé decides to leave you...wait 3 turns..." Chop Chop solemnly looks at the ground as everyone at the table becomes awkwardly silent. A minute later, Parappa breaks the quietude.

"I caught Boxxy Boy kissing the toaster earlier."


	30. The Back-up, Part 1

It was the middle of the school day at Parappa Town High. Students were wandering the halls, either trying to get to where they are going, or conversing with friends. A little paper airplane can be seen gliding down the hall as the sounds of multiple conversations and lockers opening and closing filled the air.

"Man, I hope Sunny will like these records I bought." Parappa remarks as we walks down the hallway carrying a couple of vinyl records, with his best friend PJ Berri at his side.

"Probably. Why did you buy those things for her again?" PJ asks his buddy as he snacks on a chocolate bar.

"Guru Ant told me that one way to get into a girl's heart is through smooth jazz." The amateur rapper explains as the two boys walk pass some of the slower moving students.

"That sounds super cheesy dude. If you ask me, the way to earn a girl's love is to give her something nice to eat." The teddy bear smiles as he licks the chocolate from the sides of his mouth.

"Pfft...to earn your love maybe." Parappa rolls his eyes at his best friend's advice. "Oh, wait a sec...I forgot to mention...that guy from the record store mentioned something about a teddy bear stealing a record from his store. That...that wasn't you right?"

"Uh...nuh-uh." PJ simply shakes his head no, avoiding eye contact with Parappa.

As Parappa was about to say something else, the two boys finally arrive at Sunny's locker. Only to see Joe Chin chatting it up with her.

"So Sunny, are you planning on coming to the big game Friday night?" The millionaire smirks at the flower girl as he leans against the adjacent locker.

"I don't know, maybe?" Sunny simply answers, shrugging her shoulders while holding her books against her chest.

"Well, I recommend that you do! Because I, Joe Chin! Will be the starting quarterback! And I need someone as positive and sweet as the lovely Sunny Funny to cheer me on!" Joe explains, raising his eyebrow, making his already confident expression even more so.

"Well...I'll think about it." Sunny says in her usual polite tone.

"You think about it! Meanwhile, I will be thinking about you! Sitting in the front row, cheering me on to victory!" Joe Chin laughs a hearty laugh as Sunny looks on awkwardly. "Oh, and one more thing!" The rich dog grabs a large stack of vinyl records out of nowhere.

"Here are some smooth jazz records, sung by none other than me! Joe Chin!"

"Oh come on!" Parappa yells with frustration, with neither Sunny nor Joe hearing him.

The muscular millionaire put the stack of records in the flower's arms, it's clear she's having trouble carrying both her books and these records.

"Oh...uh...th-thanks Joe..." Sunny puts on a slightly forced smile as she desperately tries her best to not drop anything.

"You're very welcome Sunny! I must be going now! I have to go shoot a Joe Chin Brand Pimple Cream commercial. See ya!" Joe confidently strides away as Sunny walks away in the other direction, moving slowly so she doesn't take a spill.

Parappa groans as he throws the records into the nearest trash can.

"Great...I got showed up by Joe Chin again." The pup sighs, slumping with defeat.

"Oh, don't be sad Parappa. You should be used to this by now." PJ tries to cheer up his friend, but earning himself a glare from him instead.

"I shouldn't be used to this! Sunny and I are meant to be with each other, I can feel it in my heart." Parappa pounds on his chest, signifying this. "I don't want that tool to be with Sunny..."

"Aww don't worry man, I know you two are going to get together at some point, I know it!" The teddy bear pats his buddy on the back.

"I hope it will be sooner rather than later..." Parappa huffs, looking down at the hallway floor.

As the two friends continued to walk down the corridor, another pair of boys were doing something straight ahead.

"Hey you! How would you like to join the football team?! Huh? Or how about you? Or you? Or you?" A small purple and white colored mouse boy waves around a clipboard, trying to convince his fellow students to join the football team, but to no avail. The mouse was wearing a blue and yellow football jersey with the number 81 on it. He also wore a pair of tan cargo shorts and athletic sneakers. The boy also had a little bit of black hair at the top of his head, and two large buck teeth.

"Hey! C'mon don't ignore us! Football is cool! Don't you guys want to be cool?" The other purple and white mouse boy exclaimed. This boy looked almost completely identical with the first one, except that his football jersey has the number 82 instead. It was clear that they were identical twins.

The mouse with the number 82 jersey sighed in defeat. "Oh who are we kidding...it's no use Ronnie, nobody wants to play football..."

"Don't give up Robbie! We have to keep trying!" Ronnie says with determination, not giving up.

"Wow Ronnie, you sure are passionate about this!" His twin brother Robbie remarks.

"I just don't want coach to make us run dude, we got to keep this up." Ronnie sighs just as he sees Parappa and PJ come walking up.

"Hey you!" The mouse calls out to Parappa.

"Me?" The rap dog points at himself, slightly confused.

"Yeah you! I'm Ronnie! And this is my bro Robbie! We play on the football team! We were wondering if you would like to join the team too?! The mouse boy explains as the twins both smile at the rapper.

"Wait, isn't the season already halfway over?" Parappa asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, but since we have a small roster this year, we can't afford another injury this season! So we need more players just in case!" Number 82 answers him, talking in a fast pace.

"Hey Parappa, this might be your way to finally impress Sunny!" PJ nudges Parappa's side with his elbow.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that jocks get the girl all the time! Even Joe knows this! You heard how he wanted Sunny to see him play! If she sees you play instead, she think you're like, super tough and rad!" PJ explains to his friend, trying to convince him.

"I don't know man, I'm not really athletic." The rapper doubts himself as he rubs the back of his neck.

"Of course you are! I mean we completely crushed those two guys who we played basketball against the other week."

"PJ, they were each like, 7 years old."

"It doesn't matter! The way your skills made them cry shows how talented you are!" PJ smiles at Parappa.

"They were crying because one of them got hit in the face with the basketball as it bounced off the rim, and the other one cried because you tripped him." Parappa rolls his eyes to this.

"Hey he deserved it! He called me a fatty." PJ defends himself, folding his arms.

"Look, we're both 4'6, and we're already on the team! You have nothing to worry about!" Ronnie interjects, trying to help PJ convince him.

"Well...if it will make Sunny fall in love with me...then I guess I'll give it a shot." The dog states as he signs Ronnie's paper.

"Yeah!" Ronnie and Robbie shout in unison as they high five each other. "Your first day of practice will be tomorrow after school! See you then bro!" Both mouse twins slap Parappa rather roughly on the back before they head off down the hall.

"Oh man...I hope this works out." Parappa says to himself as he watches the two twins walk away.

"It will man! You just got to believe!" PJ exclaims with a big grin.

Parappa stares at the bear for a few seconds with an unimpressed look.

"Don't steal my catchphrase."


	31. The Back-up, Part 2

About 24 hours have passed since the young rapper signed up for the football team. When Parappa broke the news to his parents, his father was a bit dispirited, explaining that he believes it would be better for his son to focus on academics rather than athletics. Mama Rappa on the other hand was happy upon hearing that he was joining the football team, talking about her memories from when she played as the starting forward for the school's Girl's soccer team.

Despite his mother's support, Parappa still felt incredibly nervous until the following day.

"I don't know PJ...I'm starting to think this wasn't a very good idea..." The young pup paced back and forth outside of the boy's locker room, about to start his first day of practice.

PJ was leaning against the wall, snacking on a jelly-filled donut. "Parappa, you'll be fine. If you want to impress Sunny, you need to become more confident!"

Parappa pulled his hat down below his eyes, letting out a distressed whimper. "B-but what happens if the team doesn't like me? Or if I get hurt? Or if I-"

PJ interrupts the concerned pooch as he puts his jelly-covered finger on Parappa's lips, shushing him in an attempt to calm him down. "Shhshshshhhh. Slow down there man, just relax." The teddy bear calmly speaks in a soft tone.

The rapper wipes the jelly off his lips as he tries to calm down, taking a deep breath in the process.

"Look, you're going to do great Parappa. I believe in you man. Always have, always will." The bear assures his best friend with a little smile, putting a gentle hand on the pup's shoulder.

The canine looks at his buddy with newfound happiness. Pulling him in for a warm hug, arms wrapped around the teddy bear's shoulders. PJ smile grows wider as he lightly squeezes Parappa's torso with a good ol' fashioned teddy bear hug of his own.

"Aww...thanks man." Parappa shows his appreciation for PJ's support. The two gradually pulled away from their embrace.

"Well..." Parappa takes a deep breath, followed by an exhale. "I guess it's time to do this."

"Good luck man! I'm rootin' for ya." The young bear pats him on the back one more time for good measure.

The rap dog shakes off any last bit of hesitation he has before opening the door to the locker room. Upon entering the locker room, the stench of sweat and dirt made the dog slightly reel back. At least it assured him that he was in the right place. The room seemed empty at first, not seeing a single person among the rows of light blue lockers and white floor tiles. A few seconds later, Parappa's ears perked up to the sound of snickering and conversation. The rapper walked around a row of lockers to see the mouse twins from the other day, wearing their white practice gear, with both of their practice pants and jerseys covered in dried mud and grass stains. After Parappa walked into the twins' line of sight, both quickly took notice, their already cheerful demeanor increasing tenfold.

"PARAPPA!" Both Ronnie and Robbie exclaim simultaneously, rushing over to their new teammate. Parappa gasps for air as the short mouse brothers lifted him up into a tight hug.

"We're so happy you came!" Ronnie shouts with glee, his large buck teeth shimmers with light along with his toothy grin.

"We were worried that you would have bailed on us." Robbie explains as he's the first one to let go of Parappa.

"But we were wrong! Yay!" Ronnie cheers as he jumps up and down hyperactively, with his twin brother doing so as well.

Parappa awkwardly watches the purple and white mice jump and cheer for a few moments before he begins to speak.

"Hehe...yeah...anyway...where's the rest of the team?" Parappa curiously inquires, scratching his head.

"Oh, they're already out on the field." Ronnie simply states as he grabs a large while bag and throws it towards Parappa. The rapper barely manages to catch it, stumbling back with a surprised yelp due to the bag's heavy weight.

"Wh-what's all this?!" Parappa questions the mice as he peeks inside.

"It's your equipment, duh!" Robbie rolls his eyes with a laugh. "Shoulder pads, rib pads, helmet, it's all in there! Oh, and make sure you put everything on too! One time I didn't put my rib pads on, and I ended up cracking 3 ribs haha!" Robbie chuckles, nudging Parappa in the ribs playfully. This makes the rapper gulp with worry.

"Also, don't forget to wear your mouth guard! Without it you'll break your teeth!" Ronnie chuckles as Parappa inspects the mouth protector. The pup puts it in his mouth and smiles at the two.

"Haha, sorry if it doesn't fit too well, we're out of brand new ones so I gave you my old one!" The small athlete grins in his usual jolly manner as Parappa extends his eyes, immediately spitting the mouth guard out into his hand.

"Relax dude, I cleaned it before I gave it to ya." Ronnie casually waves his hand, reassuring his new teammate.

"Dude, you just ran it under the faucet for like two seconds..." Robbie whispers into his brother's ear, making an effort to make sure Parappa doesn't hear.

"That's clean enough, right?" Ronnie whispers back. Parappa is looking at the whispering twins with confusion.

"Anyway, you better get suited up! Practice will start soon!" Ronnie says as he lifts up a water cooler that's almost the size of him. Robbie on the other hand grabs a large sack filled with footballs and throws it over his back.

"We'll meet you at the field then dude!" Ronnie flashes Parappa one last toothy smile before he and his brother exit the locker room.

After spending the next few minutes suiting up, the rapper gazes at his reflection in the mirror, outfitted with his football white practice attire. The numbers 02 are shown on the front and back of his jersey with blue digits.

Well Parappa, now is your time to shine. You gotta go out there and be the best football player this school has ever seen! Parappa psyches himself up as he stares at his reflection with a determined appearance.

You're going to make Joe Chin look like a dumb baby out there...then Sunny will think I'm manly...maybe she'll give me a kiss too~ Parappa's serious demeanor quickly turns into a gushy one as his face turns red, forming a silly grin as he imagines Sunny getting ready to kiss him.

A moment later the dog snaps out of his brief little daydream as his unsmiling expression returns.

"Here goes nothing."

...

Parappa heads down to the practice field, just in time to see the rest of the team gathering around the head coach, who appears about ready to make a speech at the edge of the field.

"Alright ladies, listen and listen good!" The football coach sternly orders as the dozen or so teenagers circle around him.

The coach appears to be a short, overweight man in his mid 50's wearing a blue and yellow tracksuit, sporting the team colors. Funny enough, the man has a football for a head. His mustache is made up from the white laces from a regular football, and the only hair he has are some tufts of gray hair on the sides of his head, leaving the top of it bald.

"Tomorrow night is our biggest game of the season! We're goin' up against Hangin' Gardens, and let me tell ya, for a buncha flowers, those kids are tough." The football man holds his hands out in front of him, emphasizing the word "tough."

"They're undefeated, they've won multiple championships, they're predicted to win the Province Championship this year, they have a larger roster, and they are physically a lot stronger than most of ya." The coach lists off, not noticing the looks of nervousness and unease resonating from the players.

"But! Just because they've won every game this year, and the fact that we haven't won a game in 5 years, doesn't mean we won't come out on top!" He points a finger into the air to stress his point.

Both Ronnie and Robbie start cheering, feeling very motivated as the rest of the team stares at them with awkward silence.

"Uhhh...anyway...let's have a productive practice ladies! Does the team captain have anythin' to say before we start?" The Coach glances over to a tall, muscular, yellow bulldog. The big bulldog has a menacing look to him, from the sharp fangs protruding from his under bite, to his intense eyes that scream for a fight.

"Yeah, I do gots somethin' ta say." The large canine takes off his helmet, revealing his short brown hair. "We only gots a few games left this season! And I'll be damned if we lose anothah one!" He clenches his fists together, holding onto the face mask of his helmet with an iron-tight grip.

"I'm sick n' tired of bein' the ONLY one here to not choke every week, and I'm about this close from getting truly mad!" The dog holds his two fingers as close to each other as he could with having them touch. "And trust me... **no one...** wants to see me truly angry..." The bulldog shouts the words "no one", causing everyone including some of the tougher looking players to flinch.

Before he could resume with his speech, the muscular canine sniffs the air around him like an alert dog.

"I smell...fresh meat..." The intimidating dog jerks his head to the direction of Parappa, causing the rapper to quiver with fright.

"...Who the hell are you?" The bulldog glares at the smaller dog, his voice still harsh and unmerciful.

Parappa stutters, intimidated by the much larger and meaner looking canine. "I...I-"

"Oh! That's Parappa!" "He's the new guy!" Ronnie and Robbie chime in.

As the team captain was sizing up the already skittish Parappa, the coach's face lights up with bemusement.

"Ahh, righhht, right. I almost forgot about the new kid." The football coach says as he walks up to him. "So um...Parappa is it? Welcome to the team." The coach greets the rapper halfheartedly, while the rest of the team, minus the twins, stare at him with faces that show low expectations.

"I'm Coach Wilson. I'm the head coach, quarterback coach, defensive coach, offensive coach, linemen coach, receiver coach...er...the coach." The football headed man explains as he scratches his chin.

"Nice to meet you coach!" Parappa says with a dorky little smile.

"Yeah whatever, anyway, you've already met the twins..." Coach Wilson gestures to the small purple mice, who everyone else on the team towers over by a foot and a half.

"And this big guy right here is Chain!" The coach pats the yellow bulldog on the back with pride. "This guy's the team captain, and has been a starter since his freshmen year!"

"Uh...h-hey dude." Parappa awkwardly greets the larger dog, still somewhat scared of his terrifying presence.

Chain folds his arms as he snorts like a displeased bull. Clearly not taking a liking to Parappa.

"Look here kid, if yous think that football is just fun n' games, you're dead wrong!" The bulldog growls. "This is my senior year little man, and I intend to wins me at least one game! And yous better not get in the way..."

"I-I won't!" Parappa reassures him, getting increasingly more nervous.

"Hmph...good." Chain gives the rapper one last frown before walking towards the center of the field.

The creme colored dog looks down to the ground anxiously, starting to think that maybe joining the football team was a bad idea after all. Before he could think about cutting his losses and bailing, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder pad. Parappa slightly flinches when he sees who it was.

Standing there was a large, muscular anthropomorphic shark with unkempt orange hair, faded blue skin, and a big smile on his face. His sharp, pointy teeth were visible as his smile was warm, but unnerving.

"Oh don't let Chain scare ya dude, he just serious about this sorta stuff, y'know." The shark, who seemed in good spirits, stood at least a foot taller than Parappa, speaking in a surfer accent.

"As long as you try your best, you should be A-OK bra." The big shark grins as he pats Parappa on the back, unaware that he was patting him a little too rough as the dog was wincing in pain.

"Oh, uhh, thanks man." Parappa says to him, feeling slightly better about the situation.

"No problemo! I'm Benny, by the way. Benny Darkwater!" The shark named Benny introduces himself, his face still beaming with positivity.

"Good to meet you, I'm Parap-"

"I AM ALEXANDROS!"

Parappa jumps in a startled fashion as another player approaches him.

This guy is as tall and as muscular as Benny, but he looks way different. He is a living bronze statue with short hair, which is a darker shade of bronze. The sunlight is shining off his metallic skin, and the only part of his body that isn't bronze are his eyes. His eyes were white like anyone else's, but his irises are glowing yellow, with no pupils in sight.

"I AM THE STARTING CENTER! AND IT IS MY DUTY TO PROTECT THE QUARTERBACK!" The statue shouts in an official sort of way, as if he is a soldier of some sort.

"Dude, why are you yelling?!" Parappa looks up at the bronze teen with worried confusion.

"Oh, Alex here always yells. He has no inside voice my dude." Benny simply states as he rests his arm on the statue's shoulder.

"SPEAKING QUIETLY IS NOT MY PRIORITY, MY ONLY PRIORITY IS PROTECTING THE QUARTERBACK!" Alexandros proclaims, making Parappa wince every word he says.

"Hey...speaking of quarterbacks, where's Joe Chin?" The young pup inquires, noticing the absence of the teenage millionaire.

"He's not here." Ronnie says as he and his brother walk up to the boys. "Yeah, he like, never shows up to practice." Robbie states, resting his hands on his hips.

"Wait, what? Isn't he the starting quarterback?!" Parappa asks as he appears to be bewildered by the fact Joe Chin couldn't be bothered to come to practice.

"Yeah, he is, but like...the coach is okay with it for some reason. I mean, if it was like, anyone else, they would be kicked off the team for sure." Benny includes.

"THERE IS A REASON COACH WILSON IS OKAY WITH IT! FIVE THOUSAND REASONS TO BE EXACT...A WEEK..." The bronze statue yells very loudly.

"Apparently Joe's shooting a commercial for his brand of zit cream right now." Robbie says with a shrug.

"Nah man, I'm pretty sure it's pimple cream." Ronnie corrects his twin.

"Wait...is there a difference?" Benny looks down at the small mice with confusion while scratching his head.

"I HEARD IT WAS PIMPLE FLAVORED ICE CREAM!" Alexandros interjects with his usual stoic expression.

Parappa, Benny, and the twins stare at the metal teen with disgust, in which he doesn't seem to care.

Before anyone else could say anything else, Coach Wilson tweets his whistle loudly.

"Okay ladies! It's time to get started! Since Chin's not here tonight, we're goin' to need someone to play quarterback for tonight's practice! Any volunteers?" Coach Wilson explains.

A few moments go by as no one raises their hands. "C'mon, somebody better freakin' volunteer, or else I'm pickin' somebody!" The coach impatiently exclaims.

"C'mon you wimps, we ain't got all night!" Chain yells, as he too is growing impatient.

"Hey Parappa, you should volunteer!" Ronnie whispers to the canine. "Yeah, you would be good at it I think!" Robbie adds on.

"What? You...you think so?" Parappa whispers back at them, his eyebrow raised.

"Yeah dude! Just think, if you do good tonight, maybe coach will let you play QB in a real game!" Ronnie explains, his buck teeth gleaming as he smiles.

"Then everyone in the audience will think you're cool!" Robbie tries to assure Parappa as well.

"Cool huh?" Parappa looks off into the distance as he starts to daydream.

...

"Oh Parappa~ You're so cool and manly for winning the big game! You're so much better than Joe Chin!" Sunny hugs Parappa as the team celebrates their huge win against Hanging Gardens. Meanwhile Joe Chin is crying all by himself.

"P-p-parappa i-is s-s-so much c-cooler than meeeeeee aghghgh..." Joe sobs as he falls to his knees in a dramatic fashion.

"I love you so much Sunny~" Parappa blushes as he leans in for a kiss with Sunny.

...

Meanwhile the twins are awkwardly staring at Parappa as he tries to kiss the air.

"Parappa what the heck are you doing?" Robbie bluntly asks, a little creeped out.

The rapper shakes his head violently, snapping out of his daydream. "Oh uh...coach! I'll volunteer! Uh...I don't really know how to be a quarterback though."

"Don't fret kid, I'm the coach! If anyone here can teach you how to be a quarterback, it's me! You just gotta trust me!" Coach Wilson explains to the volunteering pup.

"Yeah! I trust you! Because I gotta believe!" Parappa jumps up, ready to take on any challenge.

"Alright! Yeah! Alright ladies let's do this! Okay Parappa, if you can just follow my rap, you'll know all that you'll need to know!"

...

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...

"Okay okay! Here we go! Let's do this!"

LESSON 1

"The setting sun, and the cool wet grass! It's the football season! This ain't a hard class! The hitting, the running, we'll get there soon! But first we gotta, we gotta, we gotta get tuned! We gotta warm up, this ain't no surprise, everyone knows this! From the girls to the guys! It's time to stretch, we do this every day! Watch out now, just do what I say!"

"Jump the jack!"

"Jump the Jack!"

"Stretch the leg!"

"Stretch the leg!"

"Don't hurt your back!"

"Don't hurt your back!"

"Oh please, I beg!"

"Oh please, I beg!"

LESSON 2

"It's that time again, uh yeah that's right! Some tackle drills will teach you to fight! Some are lovers, others are biters, but on this field, we create some fighters!"

"Down, up! Up Up down!"

"Down, up! Up up down!"

"Move those legs, make them hit the ground!"

"Move those legs, make them hit the ground!"

"Don't hit high, you gotta hit low!"

"Don't hit high, I gotta hit low!"

"Remember this lesson, in the rain or the snow!"

"Remember this lesson, in the rain or the snow!"

LESSON 3

"Grab a hold of the ball, don't let go! I can tell already, your skills will show! Accuracy means perfect precision, throw the ball far, that's my decision!"

"Pass the ball!"

"Pass the ball!"

"Send it off!"

"Send it off!"

"Don't need to be tall!"

"Don't need to be tall!"

"Look at you, I will not scoff!"

"Look at me, you will not scoff!"

LESSON 4

"Every good practice will end the same way, run run run, get conditioned today! Several laps, so try not to tire! When we're done, your lungs will be fire!"

"Sprint down the line!"

"Sprint down the line!"

"Victory is mine!"

"Victory is mine!"

"Offense, defense, good work today!"

"Offense, defense, good work today!"

"You keep this up, my hair won't be grey!"

"I keep this up, your hair won't be grey!"

...

"Great job Parappa, you really impressed me!" Coach Wilson states with pride.

"Th-thanks!" Parappa smiles as he gasps for breath.


	32. Bonus Chapter 4, Cool Mode

...

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...

"Okay okay! Here we go! Let's do this!"

LESSON 1

"The Setting Sun, and the cool wet grass! It's the football season! This ain't a hard class! The hitting, the running, we'll get their soon! But first we gotta, we gotta, we gotta get tuned! We gotta warm up, this ain't no surprise, everyone knows this! From the girls to the guys! It's time to stretch, we do this everyday! Watch out now, just do what I say!"

"Jump the Jack!"

"J-Jump jump the Jack Jack Jack!"

"Stretch the leg!"

"Stretch s-stretch stretch th-the leg!"

"Don't hurt your back!"

"Your back! Your back! Don't hurt your back!"

"Oh please, I beg!"

"B-beg! B-beg! I beg! I beg!"

Once Parappa activates cool mode, Coach Wilson looks quite impressed.

"You're freakin' killin' it kid! Let's see what you're made of!" The coach backs away, blowing his whistle.

A golden aura resonates from the rapper as he begins to throw footballs like a frenzied machine.

"Down up down! Hit high! Hit high!"

"Don't need to be, don't need to be down!"

"Remember, remember you gotta gotta hit low!"

"Up up down! The rain or the snow!"

"Pass p-pass pass p-pass!"

"Send it! Send it! I will not scoff!"

Don't need, don't need to be ball!"

"Pass the ball! I will not scoff!"

"Victory is mine m-mine mine mine!"

"Victory is mine I will not scoff!"

"Offense! Defense! Offense offense defense!"

"I keep this up, I will not scoff!"

Once Parappa finishes the stage on cool mode, the rest of the team will look at him with amazement as Coach Wilson comes back into sight.

"Great job my man! You did good! But uhh...you're gonna have to take a drug test now."

"Thanks Coa-wait what?!"


	33. The Back-up, Part 3

"So you guys are coming to the game tonight, right?" Parappa wags his tail as he asks his friends at the lunch table with keenness. The rapping pup wore his blue and yellow football jersey to school, which is a custom that the other football players do on game day.

"Of course Parappa!" Katy is the first to assure him, her jovial demeanor giving him comfort. Lammy nods along with what she said, showing her support as well.

"Yeah man, We'll be there for you." PJ says, taking a bite of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "Mmmm, thatsh what besht friensh do."

Parappa feels elated as he turns to his flora friend, secretly wanting her support the most. "You'll be there too...right Sunny?"

Sunny Funny's kind smile is enough to make Parappa's soul melt. "Yeah! Sounds fun!" She says with her joyous, warm voice.

Parappa's tail wags even faster as he starts to giggle. "Oh man, this is awesome! I can't wait for tonight! It makes me so happy that y'all believe in me!" The pup blushes, feeling glad for such amazing friends.

"Pfft." Ma-San rolls her eyes after sipping some of her lemonade, everyone turns to face her.

"What?" Parappa's good mood was taken back a notch with her gesture.

"I hate to break it to you, but even if the entire town believed in you, there's no chance you're going to win." Ma-San bluntly states, being uncongenial as usual.

Parappa's tail comes to a stop as he becomes silent from her remark.

"Ma-San!" Katy scolds her. "Why would you say that?"

"What? I'm just being realistic. Parappa Town's football team hasn't won a game in 5 years. 5 years. That's not going to change anytime soon, since they're facing possibly the best team in all of Greenblat." The mouse explains impassively.

The rapper looks to the floor, quickly trying to think of some sort of rebuttal.

"Oh yeah? Well...you're...just...you'll see!" Parappa exclaims, his face red with frustration.

"Yeah, I'll see. See you guys lose that is." Ma-San retorts without hesitation, resting her head in her hand, looking quite bored whereas the dog is feeling vexed.

"Agh...whatever." Parappa abruptly stands up and walks away with his lunch tray, feeling a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment.

After watching Parappa leave, everyone at the lunch table turns to face Ma-San, giving her a cross look.

The yellow mouse looks around, clearly seeing that they're not happy. With a sigh of her own, she buries her head in one of her books, knowing it's for the best that she keeps quiet for now.

...

Parappa walks away from the table with his tray in his hands, not in a good mood anymore. He knew that if he hadn't have left, he would have started a heated argument with the drummer. Knowing Ma-San's history with anger problems, it was a wise idea to avoid that sort of thing with her.

Now the beanie-wearing pup has to find a new table to sit at, and after a quick scan of the cafeteria, he finds the purple mouse twins sitting at a table all by themselves.

At least they're always thinking positive. Parappa thinks to himself as he makes his way to their table.

"So do you think I should wear face paint tonight bro?" Ronnie asks his identical twin, wearing his #81 jersey.

"Heck yeah bro! That would look sick!" Robbie smiles a buck tooth smile, wearing his #82 jersey.

"Aww yeah dawg! I'm gonna go out there with my face paint on, and those cornerbacks will be running the other direction!" Ronnie confidently states as he shakes his fists excitedly.

"Yeah bro!" The twins high five each other as they share a laugh.

"Hey guys." Parappa greets the brothers as he sits next to Ronnie.

"Parappa!" The twins excitedly welcome their teammate.

"Hey...you feeling alright dude?" Robbie raises his eyebrow with concern in his voice.

"Ugh...One of my friends told me we were gonna lose, it put me down a little." The dog sighs, explaining to the mice.

"Whaaaat? Haha...th-that's crazy talk man, don't let it bring you down." Ronnie pats Parappa on the back, trying to be supportive.

"Yeah man, we've been hearing the same old thing since the season started. We just...it's best to just ignore it, y'know?" Robbie adds to what his brother said, both having felt what Parappa feels at one point.

"I guess.." Parappa rubs the back of his neck, thinking about Ma-San's words.

...there's no chance that you're going to win.

While reflecting on those words over and over again in his head, the pup absent-mindedly glances over to the other side of the cafeteria where he sees the rest of the football team sitting at another table.

"Hey...why aren't you guys sitting with the rest of the team?" Parappa asks, the observation taking his mind off the negativity temporarily.

"Huh? Oh...uh..we're uh...since we're underclassmen, we don't get to sit at the football table hehe.." Robbie awkwardly laughs as he looks down to the floor. His brother acting just as weird.

"Well, how comes there's underclassmen sitting there too?" Parappa looks over to the football team's table, seeing the other freshmen and sophomore players there as well.

"That's cuz um...uh, we-we just have to work our way up the ladder, that's all hehe..." Robbie blushes slightly, he and his twin brother looking sort of uncomfortable.

Parappa can sense that the twins are uncomfortable, so he figures he should try to change the subject.

"Hey, how comes Joe Chin isn't over there?" The rapper asks, noticing that the millionaire is absent from the table.

"I think he's eating lunch at some fancy restaurant." Ronnie scratches his black hair as his ear twitches slightly.

"We only ever see Joe on game day..." Robbie sighs.

Parappa shakes his head, peeved about the fact that not only Joe doesn't come to practice, but also doesn't spend time with his fellow teammates.

The cream-colored dog looks over to the table again. "Hey, how comes...what's his name?...Benny isn't there either?"

"Oh, he's over by the vending machines, talking to his bro." Ronnie points to where he's at.

"You coming to the game tonight lil bro?" The tall muscular shark asks his brother with a wide, sharp-tooth smile.

"For God's sake, how many times to I have to tell you, you big lump?! No, I am not going to your moronic football game!" Athens frowns at his big sibling, irritation very evident in his voice.

"Aw come on Affie, it'll be fun!" Benny continues to be positive, despite his little brother's rudeness.

"Oh please, sticking toothpicks in my gills sounds more fun than attending some barbaric sports event." The snarky shark rolls his eyes in his usual manner.

"Affie, football is like, awesome! You should think about joining the team next year!" The happy-go-lucky, messy haired fish says to his younger, well-dressed brother.

Suddenly Athens begins to chuckle in his usual elitist fashion. "Hahaha! Are you mad? Someone of high intelligence such as myself would never take part of something so...brutish! I am a thespian! Not a neanderthal."

Benny looks confused for a moment. "Wait...I thought you had to be like...a girl to be a thespian..." The older shark says while he scratches the side of his head.

"What in the world are you-" Athens stops mid-sentence, his eyes widening at the realization of what his brother meant.

"No! **No!** I said thespian! An actor, rock-for-brains!" The flustered fish shouts.

"Oooooohhhh okay!" Benny smiles once again, oblivious to his younger sibling's annoyed look.

As the shark bros continue to bicker (with the bickering being one-sided), Parappa brings his attention back to the mice.

"Anyway...I guess we gotta believe? Hehe..."

"That's the spirit!" The twins say in unison, bright smiles on both boys.

...

Several hours have passed, school is out, and the big game starts soon. Parappa, who's wearing his football gear, paces back and forth in the hallway outside the locker room. He's still incredibly nervous, thinking nonstop about what would happen if things went badly.

The pup whimpers quietly, stomach uneasy with anxiety.

Oh gosh, this is bad. What will Sunny think of me when we lose? This was a bad idea, I don't think I can-

"Parappa?"

The Hip-Hop Hero snaps back to reality as he looks over his shoulder, seeing the love of his life, Sunny Funny. She was standing around 10 feet behind him, a concerned expression on her yellow face.

"Are you alright?"

"Oh, uh...yeah, I'm fine..." Parappa replies, not telling the truth.

"I'm sorry about what Ma-San said earlier today...if it makes you feel better, I believe in you." Sunny smiles as she walks up to the dog, her hand falling on his shoulder.

Parappa glances at the flora's hand, a red blush instantly coloring his cheeks. "Th-thanks Sunny! Th-that's really nice of you to say."

The flower girl blushes a tiny bit, a cute little giggle escaping her lips. Parappa looks completely lovestruck at this point, his tail wagging like crazy.

"The others and I will be watching you from the stands, cheering you on." Sunny adds, comforting Parappa with her words.

The rapper looks at the clock on the wall, seeing that it's soon game time. "I should get in there...the game's gonna start soon." Parappa sighs disappointingly, Sunny looks let down as well.

"I'll be heading over to the field now, but before I go..." Sunny gives Parappa a big hug, surprising the dog as his eyes widen and his face turning crimson red. As he was contemplating whether it was appropriate to hug her back, she let go.

"Good luck Parappa, I believe in you~" With one last wink, she turns around and takes her leave. Feeling a rush of newfound confidence, Parappa smiles, believing in himself once more.

Yeah...I...I can do this...I just gotta believe!

...

Parappa opens the door to the locker room with gusto, seeing the rest of the team huddled around the coach upon entering. The players are all wearing their blue and yellow game uniforms, since it's a home game.

"Okay ladies listen up, tonight's the big night. In just a few minutes, you'll be kickin' off against one of the most accomplished teams in the province. If you guys believe in yourselves and all that, I'm sure uhhh...somethin' good will happen." Coach Wilson tries his best with his pep talk. A moment later, the door to the locker room opens once more. Everyone, including Parappa, turns to see who it is.

"No need to fear, Joe Chin is here!" The pompous dog struts into the room, showing up late.

The rapper gives the rich teen a dirty look as he approaches the rest of the team.

"I see that you took your sweet time Chin." Coach Wilson sternly says to him.

"Just had a little bit of a setback coach. I had to pose for another portrait of myself being painted down in Beagle City. Done by famed artist Michelangelo Dalmatio." Joe explains with his famous smug grin.

"Dalwhatio? Nevermind...just know that since you showed up late, that means you can't play tonight." The coach folds his arms, still not happy.

"Surely there's a way that I can persuade you to let me play?" Joe subtly lifts a stack of hundred dollar bills partially out of his side pants pocket, visible enough for only the coach to see. The football headed man's eyes brighten up at the sight of the money.

"Huh...you know what Joe, everyone can't be on time every time I suppose. You can play."

What?! Parappa thinks to himself, quite baffled at the coach's leniency with Joe.

"Ah, thank you. I promise I won't let you down!" Joe declares, walking off towards his private locker room who he may or may not of paid for.

"B-but coach! Joe didn't even show up for practice this week! I should be the one playing quarterback tonight!" Parappa pulls Coach Wilson to the side, speaking to him privately.

"Well...Joe's uh...more experienced than you...so it's for the best that he plays tonight." Coach explains, scratching his head.

"If he's so experienced, how comes the team keeps losing every week? Wouldn't you want someone else to take over?" The pup tries to plead with the football man, not wanting to have to play second fiddle to that jerk.

"Look son, I know what I'm doing." Coach Wilson looks down at the short canine, starting to get peeved.

"But that's not fair! To me, or the rest of the guys who actually show up to pract-"

"Enough!" The coach snaps, causing Parappa to flinch. "Chin's playing, and that's final! So either accept your role as back-up quarterback, or get off my team!" Coach Wilson frowns, giving him an ultimatum.

Parappa frowns, looking at the ground. "...fine." The defeated pup quietly grumbles to himself as he walks away.

...

The sun falls below the Western horizon as the tall stadium light flicker on, illuminating the football field below. The air was cool, and the scent of french fries and burgers being grilled was in the air as plenty of people filed into the stands on both sides of the field. Countless conversations among the spectators could be heard, alongside the school marching band warming up their instruments.

"I'm baaaack." PJ slowly climbs the stairs of the home team bleachers towards his friends, a cardboard tray filled with a variety of foods from the concession stand in his hands.

The teddy bear sat next to Sunny Funny, and behind them were the girls of Milkcan. They were all dressing warmly due to the cool weather, wearing light coats and jackets. Even PJ was wearing an Orange sweatshirt, a gift from Parappa.

"Here're your fries Katy." PJ handed the fried potato slices to his blue cat friend, while using his other hand to stuff his own fries in his mouth. "Aw thanks!" She happily smiles as she takes the food.

"You girls want some?" Katy offers her bandmates some of her french fries.

"No thanks." Ma-San politely turns down her offer.

"Oh uh...s-sure." Lammy tries to grab one, only to accidentally drop it. "O-oh..." The lamb awkwardly stares at the fallen french fry.

Katy looks over to see that she dropped it. "Hey...want some more LamLam?" The feline smiles as she offers her more fries.

"Oh...yeah...thank you." Lammy smiles at Katy's generosity, grabbing a fry gently. The lamb pops the fry in her mouth, only for her eyes to widen almost immediately.

"H-H-Hot!" Lammy tears up a little, forgetting that the fry just came out of a deep fryer.

"You got to let it cool first silly." Katy chuckles as Lammy sips some of her water, cooling off her tongue.

Way to look like a dork in front of Katy... The red head mentally scolds herself for looking foolish.

"Heeeeyy PJ~"

The hungry bear takes a bite out of his cheeseburger before looking up. Standing next to him on the stairs was Sweety Bancha. The pink teddy bear was wearing her Blue and Yellow cheer-leading outfit, with matching pom-poms in both of her hands.

"Sooo, how are you doing?" Sweety asks, her cheeks are rosy and her smile is genuinely sweet.

"I'm doing alright." PJ casually replies, finishing off his burger with ease.

"Heehee...what brings you guys out here tonight? I never saw you come to a football game before?" The cheerleader asks the group of friends, although her eyes are still resting on PJ.

"We're here to support Parappa! He's playing tonight." Sunny answers her with her usual cheerful tone.

"Aww that's nice! It's always sweet to be there for your friends!" The pink girl beams in a friendly manner. "Speaking of friends...are you going to watch me cheer tonight PJ?~"

"Uhhh...I guess so." PJ shrugs.

"Heehee~ Cool!~" Sweety blushes as she giggles, shaking her pom-poms with excitement.

Sweety has had a crush on the brown teddy bear for some time now, and she doesn't really hide it either. But as for PJ, no one really knows if he likes her back. Not even his friends know, since he's not a very talkative person.

 **"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to tonight's football game!"** The announcer boomed over the loudspeakers.

"Weellll the game's about to start! See ya later guys! Bye bye PJ~" Sweety says her goodbyes, winking at PJ one last time before heading down to where the rest of the cheerleading squad was.

 **"We're in for a treat this evening, as the Parappa Town Pioneers face off against their bitter rivals, the Hanging Gardens Gardeners!"**

 **"The Gardeners have had a perfect season so far, coming off from last week's impressive victory against the Eastpoint Archers. Where they cruised by with a 38-3 win."** The second announcer exclaims.

 **"Yep, I bet dollars to donuts that the Gardeners will be a big favorite later on in the Greenblat Province Playoffs! Did you know that in the last ten years, they won the Province Playoffs five times? They even won the National Championship in 2011!"**

 **"Unfortunately, the Pioneers have had little success compared to Hanging Gardens."**

 **"Yeah, the Pioneer's last win was 5 years ago. So far this season, Parappa Town has only accumulated 21 points. The lowest out of all of the teams in the Province of Greenblat."**

"Yikes, that doesn't sound good..." Papa Rappa commented. He and his wife and daughter were sitting in the stands as well, along with Chop Chop Master Onion.

"Aww don't worry hun. Parappa can kick their butts! I believe in him!" Mama Rappa confidently says, wearing a Parappa Town Pioneers T-shirt under her firemen's coat.

"I agree with Mrs. Rappa. Parappa will be victorious!" Chop Chop chimes in. In reality, he doesn't agree with her, because he bet $10 against Parappa Town. He's gotta get that Worldcraft DLC one way or another.

 **"Last week Parappa Town suffered a devastating loss against the Fun Harbor Sharknadoes, with the final score being 49-7."**

 **"Perhaps the streak will finally end tonight as the game is about to begin!"**

 **"Here comes the visiting team, the Hanging Gardens Gardeners!"** The Gardeners jog onto the field, wearing their white away-game jerseys, with green pants and a white helmet with a rose logo on the side. The football team consists of plant people, since Hanging Gardens is a private school for audience and the cheerleaders from the visiting team's side cheer their team onto the field, the Hanging Gardens marching band playing their hearts out.

 **"And here comes our Parappa Town Pioneers!"** After the away team finishes their entrance, the home team runs onto the field in a less graceful manner. One of the football players trips over his own feet, causing a few of the players behind him to topple over him as well. While this was going on, a few of the Parappa Town marching band members were playing off-key, making the team's entrance a lot more awkward.

"This is off to a promising start." Ma-San snidely remarks as she observes the trainwreck happening on the field.

"Hey look, it's Parappa!" Sunny points out with a happy expression. Parappa could be seen jumping over his fallen teammates, trying desperately not to fall down as well.

As the fallen players get back up, the team huddles onto their sideline.

"Okay boys, it's times to show them flowers what we're made of!" Chain tries to hype everyone up.

"Yeah dudes! Let's go out there and have some fun!" Benny adds in, positivity present in the shark's voice.

"Screw fun! We needs to freakin' win!" The large bulldog shouts, teeth gritted.

"LET US MARCH TOWARDS OUR DESTINIES!" Alexandros screams.

"Gentlemen! Just know that as long as I'm out there, I will lead our team to victory!" Joe Chin chimes in, his eyebrow raised in self-faith. Everyone shot a glare at the rich dog for a moment before the announcers speak up.

 **"Ladies and Gentlemen, please rise for the singing of our national anthem, performed by Parappa Town High's drama teacher, Miss Thalia Dionys!"**

Down in the middle of the field, the drama teacher was wearing black turtle-neck sweater with her black yoga pants and theater mask. Waving enthusiastically to her audience, where few politely clapped for her.

...

 **Ooohhh how I want tooo live free~**

 **In a land of opportuuuuunity~**

 **Loooong live our state~**

 **A place where weeee flourish~**

 **A place where eviiiils perish~**

 **Where every person caaaan exist!**

 **Loooong live our state~**

 **The sun shiiines on eeeeveryone~**

 **Where hate and war wiiiilll be gone~**

 **This. Is. Our. Creed~**

 **Love thy self and oooothers too~**

 **Juuuustice and hoooope for you~**

 **Please Let my wooooords be heard!**

 **This. Is. Our. Song~**

 **Snowy mountains and deeesert sands~**

 **Let our minds and dreeeeeams expand~**

 **A future thaaaaat wiiillll be ours~**

 **Looooong live our state~**

...

Near thunderous applause can be heard from both stands as Miss Thalia bows to her audience.

"Okay ladies, let's freakin' do this! Kick return team ready!" Coach Wilson bellows to his players, as everyone rushes to get into position.

"Wait! Coach! What about me? Won't I get to play at all?" Parappa gives the coach those puppy dog eyes, desperately wanting to play so he can impress Sunny.

"Ehhh just sit on the bench until we needy ya." The football headed man waves off the young canine as he turns his attention to the rest of the team.

Parappa gloomily hangs his head as he sadly sits down on the bench.

As the rapper stays sidelined, the game begins.

...

In the first quarter, the Gardeners start the game off to a strong start as they scored three touchdowns against the Pioneers. In the second quarter, Hanging Gardens manage to achieve two more touchdowns to make the score 35-0 by halftime. The home team crowd has mostly lost its pep, seeing their football team get squashed relentlessly. In the third quarter, the Gardeners scored two more touchdowns and a field goal. Rounding out the score to 52-0. For the fourth quarter, Hanging Gardens let's their second string players take the field.

 **"We now have two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter ladies and gentlemen. Hanging Gardens has dominated the entire game so far, totaling 52 points against the pioneers, and 893 yards of total offense."**

 **"Yeah, The Pioneers' quarterback, Freshman Joe Chin, has not thrown a completed pass the whole game! The sole highlight of the Pioneers is the valiant performance from Senior Chain Ironjaw, who has a total of 5 sacks and 15 tackles tonight."**

 **"Looks like the Pioneer's coach has called for a timeout."**

"Okay...look ladies, we haven't had a very good start...but! We still have some time to make somethin' happen!" The tired looking coach tries to motivate the exhausted, battered players.

"Joe, since you can't seem to pass the ball to save your life, I want you to run the ball." Coach Wilson commands the rich dog.

"C-can do coach!" Joe tries to give the coach a confident smile, despite being bruised and physically drained.

Meanwhile in the stands, half of the crowd has gone home. The remaining spectators have little to no spirit left, despite the cheerleaders cheering their little hearts out.

"I can't believe I paid a $5 admission fee to watch a mass murder." Ma-San dryly blurts, bored out of her mind.

"Why hasn't Parappa been playing..." Sunny looks down in the dumps, sad to see Parappa not be able to play.

"I think he's the back-up." Katy says to her.

"More like they don't want him to get killed out there." Ma-San retorts.

Parappa is looking on from the bench, unhappy with being sidelined. He wants to be out there, proving himself that he's better than Joe Chin!

As the timeout ends, and the team gets back out on the field, the game continues. Joe hikes the ball as he pretends to look like he's about to throw. He suddenly attempts to make a run for it, but unfortunately for him, one of the Gardener's linebackers caught him. The linebacker drives his shoulder into Joe's torso, sending the blonde millionaire flying. As everyone gets back up, Joe was having a hard time getting back on his feet.

 **"Uh oh, it appears Joe Chin may be injured."** The announcer observes, while Benny and Alexandros carry the hurt quarterback off the field.

"Joe, you alright?" Coach Wilson looks at the hurt player with concern.

"Haha...t-try Joe Chin's pimple cream...haha" Joe mumbles to himself, clearly suffering from a head injury.

"Ah crap, take him to the bench." As they drag Joe away to be checked by the trainer, the coach glances over at Parappa, who looks him in the eyes as well.

"Parappa...go show'em what you got." Coach Wilson nods at the dog, who in return jumps out of the bench with excitement.

Finally! Now's my time to shine!

 **"It looks like Parappa Town is going to put in their back-up quarterback, err...Freshmen...Parappa Rappa!"**

With this, Parappa's friends and family cheer for the rapping pup.

"Go Parappa Go!"

"Go get em son!"

"I believe in you!"

Parappa huddles up with the rest of the team. They're all standing, waiting for his call.

"Okay guys, we only have enough time for one last play, so let's make it count! Ronnie, I'm throwing the ball your way alright?" Parappa looks over to the purple mouse, who nods with confirmation.

The play is about to begin, everyone gets in their position, and Parappa is now more determined than ever to prove himself.

"Ready! Set! Hike!"

Parappa recieves the ball, the linemen are holding up the other teams defense, giving Parappa mere seconds to make his move. Then he sees Ronnie running in the back field. Now's his chance.

Parappa throws the ball as hard as he could, hoping desperately that he doesn't fail. Ronnie sees the ball coming towards him, he jumps up and catches the ball perfectly. The crowd is going wild. Ronnie books it towards the endzone, sprinting his heart out.

"Go bro go!" Robbie cheers for him the loudest, running along the sideline.

The mouse jumps over several of the other team's players, not letting them tackle him. The boy makes it into the endzone untouched.

 **"TOUCHDOWN!"**

The crowd cheers loudly as Benny and Alexandros pick up Parappa. "YOU DID IT CANINE!" The bronze statues exclaims with joy.

"Yeah, I did! Yahoo!" Parappa throws his fists into the air, acting just like he threw the winning touchdown.

 **"There you have it folks, that's the game. Gardeners win 52-6!"** The Pioneers cease their celebration, realizing that they still lost.

"Oh darn...oh well!" Parappa shrugs it off, as he and most of the other players continue to be proud of themselves.

Despite not winning the game, Parappa managed to throw a touchdown pass on his first try. It's the little things like that that truly matter.

Parappa not only scored for his team, he also made some new friends. It was a great experience for the young pup, one for many that has yet to come.


	34. Grape Garden

It was around 6:30 in the evening at the Rappa residence. Papa Rappa was whistling a little tune to himself as he was looking at his reflection in his bedroom mirror, putting on a red tie on top of his white collared shirt.

"You soon ready hun?" Mama Rappa hugs her husband from behind, dressed in her Parappa Town Fire Co. t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. The father of two smiles happily at his wife. "Yep, just gotta wait for the kids."

Meanwhile downstairs in the living room, the Rappa children were standing behind the sofa, watching a middle-aged onion play video games.

"You see, you gotta build a shelter before dark! Or else the monsters will come and kill you!" Chop Chop explains to Pinto as he sits cross-legged on the sofa, playing Worldcraft.

"Uhhh...alright..." Pinto says, not really interested.

"Remember, if you kill a zombie, they will drop rotten flesh. Don't eat it! It will make you very sick and you will lose health!" The onion boldly states, sharing his precious Worldcraft knowledge to the little girl.

"Sensei, I don't think Pinto really cares about Worldcraft." Parappa speaks up, with his sister nodding in agreement.

"What?!" Chop Chop pauses the game, jolting his head around to look at Pinto. "Why not?!"

"I just don't really care about video games, plus that game looks kinda dumb." The little pup shrugs.

"Well you know what people who don't like Worldcraft are called? Losers!" Master Onion snaps at her for disrespecting Worldcraft.

Pinto and Parappa both gasp in shock. "Sensei that's not cool." Parappa frowns at his karate teacher.

"I'm telling on you!" Pinto shouts, her feelings hurt by the meanie.

"Wait no I'm sorry!" Chop Chop Master Onion jumps out of his seat, begging for forgiveness.

"I don't care!" The girl bellows, her arms folded as her cheeks are flushed.

Just then Mama and Papa Rappa walked down the stairs and into the living room. "Parappa, Pinto, you two ready to g-"

"Mommy! Daddy! Chop Chop called me a-"

"I DID NOT!"

"Did too!"

"NO!"

"Yes!"

"NUH-UH!"

"Yuh-huh!"

"Enough!" Papa Rappa barks, silencing his daughter and the onion.

"As I was saying, are you two ready to go?" The father asks them, taking his hat off the hat-rack and putting it on top of his head.

"Yeah!" Both Rappa children nods their heads, ready to leave.

"Wait, where are you going?" Chop Chop asks the family of dogs with a raised eyebrow.

"We're going to the Grape Garden in Rivertown." Papa casually replies to the onion as he heads for the door.

"Yeah, Parappa did such a great job at his football game last night, so we're going out to eat to celebrate!" Mama explains, ruffling Parappa's head with a proud expression.

"Grape Garden? Isn't that the spaghetti place? Can I come?" The karate teacher asks, interested in going.

"Weeelll, you see...we have coupons that only work if we bring a party of four..." Papa Rappa says, rubbing the back of his neck.

"But...but I'm hungry..." Chop Chop Master Onion gives the adult dog sad eyes.

"Don't worry teacher, we'll bring you back something." Parappa tries to cheer up the disheartened karate master.

"But-"

"We'll be back in a couple hours, bye!" With that, the canine family heads out the door, leaving Chop Chop behind.

"Richard, we don't have any coupons." Mrs. Rappa whispers into her husband's ear as they get in the car.

"Shhh. If we would have brought him with, he would probably make a scene or something." Papa explains with an eyeroll.

The sound of the family station wagon pulling out of the driveway could be heard as Chop Chop Master Onion stands in the living room all alone.

"Hmph! I didn't want to go with them anyway!" The onion man says to himself with a loud huff as he sits back down on the sofa, unpausing his game.

"That stupid idiot with his...dumb hat and his...dumb...inventions...thinking he could leave me behind..." Chop Chop mumbles grumpily as he mines for resources. "Hey, look at me, I'm a dumb bald dog and I think I'm the smartest guy ever. I invent things and I have a hot wife blah blah blah." Chop Chop mocks Papa Rappa with a horrible impression of his voice.

"Hmph...maybe I should open my own restaurant...call it Chop Chop's Karate Cafe for cool guys and pretty women...yeah...and I WON'T INVITE THAT LOSER! IF HE SHOWS UP I WILL BEAT HIM UP!" The karate teacher yells at the TV screen, releasing his anger on the game.

The sound of wheels creaking made Chop Chop look down for a moment, seeing a little tiny blue creature inside a portable lunchbox staring at him with large creepy eyes.

A few awkward moments go by as the onion and blue thing that belonged to Pinto stared at each other.

"Go away." Chop Chop Master Onion shoos Uee away, slightly uncomfortable. Pinto's strange pet wheels itself to the other room without making a sound.

After Uee left, Chop Chop continued to ramble to himself. After awhile, a disgruntled purple ant came marching down the stairs.

"Excuse me." The guru folds both pairs of his arms, raising his eyebrow.

"What do you want bug?" Chop Chop grumbles, not taking his sight off the screen.

"I find it hard to meditate when there's someone downstairs ranting to himself like a lunatic." The ant explains in his calm voice, clearly not very happy.

"Well I find it hard to play my game when there's some hippie nagging me." The karate master retorts, not enjoying the ant's presence.

"You sound angry, why don't you have some coffee and meditate?" Guru ant proposes, putting his hands together.

"Worldcraft and a can of Bepsi is good enough for me." Chop Chop takes his carbonated beverage and takes a big gulp, concealing a burp as he kicks his feet up on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

Guru Ant rolls his eyes at the loser onion before an expression of realization appears on his face.

"Wait a minute...what time is it?" The guru asks Chop Chop.

"Almost 7."

The purple insect's eyes expanded upon hearing what time it was. "It's almost 7 already?! Romantic Rule is about to come on!"

"What's that?"

"It's a soap opera that stars a queen ant named Myrmica, where she goes on a journey to find her a king." Guru Ant explains to him.

"Sounds stupid." Chop Chop dismisses it, not interested.

"It would sound stupid to someone uncultured like you." The bug frowns at the karate teacher, his lower pair of arms resting on his hips.

"Karate and Worldcraft is all the culture I need!" The tamanegi sensei retorts as he takes another sip of Bepsi.

"Whatever, you need to get off. I want to watch my show." The insect gestures for the onion to leave.

"Get lost! I'm playing my game." Chop Chop raises his voice in frustration, refusing to stop playing.

"This is the only television in the house, and I'm going to watch Romantic Rule." Guru Ant sternly says to the onion, not in the best mood.

"Well you're gonna have to watch it another time I guess." Chop Chop Master Onion remains unflinching as he doesn't appear to be getting off anytime soon.

"I don't have time for this nonsense." The guru sighs as he walks over to the TV.

"Hey, what are you-" Before the karate master could say anything else, Guru Ant bends down and turns off the Gamestation 2.

Chop Chop's eyes are filled with shock as he remains speechless for a moment. "No...NOOOOOOO!" The onion falls to his knees as yells towards the ceiling in anguish.

"There, your silly game is over, now go away so I can watch Romantic Rule in peace and quiet." Guru Ant looks down at the distressed onion, all four arms folded.

Chop Chop glares at the purple ant and growls under his breath, eyebrows furrowed. He gets back on his feet and gives the insect a small shove with one arm, taking him by surprise.

"You...you **asshole**! YOU DIDN'T EVEN LET ME SAVE MY DAMN GAME! TWO HOURS OF GAMING, ALL FOR NOTHING!" The now furious onion shouts at the Ant, who is taken back by Chop Chop's sudden outburst.

"First of all, it's just a game. Get over it. Second of all-"

Chop Chop gives the purple ant another one-armed shove, this time barely moving the ant since he was prepared. "DON'T TELL ME TO GET OVER IT! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO TURN OFF PEOPLE'S THINGS!"

"I'm only going to tell you this once, don't touch me again." Guru Ant warns the onion, his voice still calm but his tone is more serious.

Chop Chop grits his teeth, he's had enough of this guy. The onion goes to push his one more time, but as soon as his hand touched the Guru's shirt, the ant took action. The bug uses all four of his arms to violently shove the tamanegi sensei, sending him flying onto the couch. The force of Master Onion's landing made the couch flip over on it's back, with him tumbling onto the floor.

Chop Chop laid still for a moment, taken off guard by the insect's retaliation. The surprise immediately turned into wrath however, as he stood back up, he glared at the ant with a mixture of rage and focus. He got in a stance, ready to do what he does best.

" **HIIIIIIYATATATATAAAAAA!"**

Chop Chop jumps over the fallen couch, looking to get the first strike. Guru Ant sidestepped out of the way as he landed a few feet away. The onion swung his leg at him, trying to end it early with a strong kick to the side of the head. The insect blocked it with his two left arms as he quickly took a few steps backwards, trying to get some distance.

"You don't want to do this!" The purple ant warned the hostile karate master, only for it to go on deaf ears. Chop Chop closed the distance between them as he unleashes a fury of chops. Due to Guru Ant having four arms, he blocks almost all of them, but the sensei managed to get a lucky hit in when one of his chops hit him right in the cheek.

The connected chop staggers the large ant for a split second, just enough time for the karate master to make his next move. Chop Chop kicks the Guru right in the stomach, causing him to bow over in pain. He took this opportunity to jump on the ant's back, trying to wrap his arm around his neck for a sleeper hold.

If Guru Ant was any smaller, he would have most likely fell victim to this move. But due to Papa Rappa's shrink ray malfunction, his current size is about 50 pounds heavier than Chop Chop. The Ant tries to fling Master Onion off of him, but to no use. As his face was starting to get blue, he thought of a better idea. He threw himself into the wall behind him, pinning Chop Chop between him and the wall. The whole house vibrates as even a couple of paintings fall off the wall. He does this a few more times before the onion lets go, clearly in pain.

Chop Chop drops to the floor, his back hurting from those hits. Meanwhile Guru Ant gasps for breath, trying to once again reason with the karate teacher.

"You...gotta...quit..." The Ant says in between gasps.

Just before something else happened, Boxxy Boy ran down the stairs. "What the heck is going on down here?!" The robotic boombox exclaims, freaked out from the noise. "What are you two-"

Chop Chop abruptly picks up the boombox and throws him at the ant. Boxxy lets out a little scream as he connects with the Guru's face. Guru Ant holds his now bloody nose with two of his hands, that hit from Boxxy clearly did damage.

As Chop Chop once again rushed at the insect, something inside the purple ant snapped. Before the onion could pounce, Guru Ant picked him up with all four of his arms with relative ease, holding him above his head.

"HEY! WHAT THE-AAA!"

The bug then dashed into the kitchen, slamming the karate master into the kitchen table. The table smashed under Chop Chop's weight, breaking into two pieces as the onion fell to the floor.

A little bit of blood oozed out of the ant's nose as he huffed and puffed, beginning to calm down. Chop Chop appeared to be unable to get up on his own, groaning in pain.

The guru stood over the bruised onion, who in return looks up at him. "Are you finished?" Guru Ant questions.

Chop Chop gazes at the floor for a moment, knowing he's been defeated. "Yeah, whatever."

The ant extends one of his arms out to the onion, offering to help him up. Chop Chop takes a hold of his hand as the insect hoists him back on his feet.

The two men silently stare at each other for a few moments, both still breathing heavily from their altercation. "I'm sorry for turning your game off." Guru is the first to apologize.

Chop Chop rubs the back of his neck, looking at the floor to avoid eye contact. "I'm sorry for uh...attacking you."

Both men don't look at each other in silence for a few seconds before Guru Ant speaks up.

"I'll clean up the living room, you take care of this." The ant points to the destroyed table next to them before going back into the living room.

Chop Chop stares at the broken table and sighs despairingly. He picks up both pieces of the table and drags it out the back door. It was now dark outside as the battered onion walked across the Rappa's backyard, dragging the table with him. He stood by the neighbors fence, looking over it to see if the coast was clear. Once he realized it was, he chucked the broken kitchen table over onto the neighbor's property.

As the karate teacher walked back into the house, the ant already flipped the sofa back over, as well as putting the fallen paintings back on the wall.

Chop Chop looked down at the floor, seeing an incapacitated Boxxy Boy. The batteries flew out of him when he connected with the guru's face. The onion picked up the batteries and put them back inside the robot, powering him back to life.

"-Huh?! What's going on?!" Boxxy Boy blurts out, looking at both men frantically.

"Nothing. Now go away." Chop Chop tries to shoo the boombox away, tapping him with his foot as the robot ran back up the stairs.

About a half hour passes before the Rappa's return back home.

"We're home." Papa says as he opens the front door, with his wife and children following him in.

Both Chop Chop Master Onion and Guru Ant were sitting on the sofa, watching Guru's soap opera. With Chop Chop clearly less interested in it than he was.

"We brought back some salad and bread-sticks for you guys." Parappa smiles as he holds the containers of food.

"I wanted spaghetti..." Chop Chop quietly pouts to himself.

"Uh...where's the kitchen table?" Mama Rappa looks at the onion and ant with a raise eyebrow, her hands on her hips.

"And what happened to your face?" Papa asks the ant, noticing his bruised nose.

"Long story." Both Chop Chop and Guru Ant say in unison, trying to watch the show.


	35. Chunky Sauce

The Chunky Burger was pretty busy today, with dozens of people packed inside the fast food restaurant. The place smelled of grease, french fries, and grilled meat as the line at the counter continued to move at what seemed like a sluggish pace.

"Next!" The cashier hollered at the person next in the queue. "Welcome to Chunky Burger, how may I help you?" The dark-skinned woman monotonously questions, a phrase she must have asked hundreds of times that day.

An overweight raccoon teen named Caleb walks up to the counter, wearing a green shirt with the word Senpai written in white, and a pair of brown sweatpants.

"Yeah, I want a 20 piece Chicken Nugget meal, large size with Bepsi, with aboooooouut 30 of your special Kintsugi Katana Chunky Sauce packs!" The raccoon orders, his hand slapping the counter with confidence.

The cashier burrows her face in her hand as she lets out a long, frustrated sigh.

"I'm sorry sir, but we sold out of those." She bluntly says.

The chubby teen is speechless for a moment, but a moment later he picks up his tone.

"What do you mean you're all out?! I thought you just started selling them today?!" Caleb frowns, not taking this piece of news very well.

"We did, and they were all sold." The lady behind the counter sneers at the boy.

"How in the hell can you people sell out of a product on the day you introduce it?!" Caleb yells, beginning to earn a few stares from the Chunky Burger's patrons.

"Because there were only 20 packs of it." The employee is clearly getting tired of the raccoon's attitude.

"20?! So you're telling me, that my favorite anime slash manga series has a promotional sauce out, and you guys have only 20 of it?" Caleb squints his eyes at the lady, folding his arms.

"Uh huh."

"...You're full of shit."

The woman grits her teeth. "Look here kid, we don't have anymore of that dumb cartoon Chunky Sauce. But we do have plenty of regular Chunky Sauce, so would you please just take that instead so we can keep the line moving." She points at the increasingly annoyed line behind the teen.

"No! It's not the same!" Caleb slams his fists onto the counter, everyone in the building is now staring at him.

"Yes it i-"

"No it's not!"

"...Yes, it-"

"No it's not!"

"Yes. It. I-"

"NO IT'S-"

" **YES IT IS! Now order it or get out!"** The cashier finally snaps as he screams at the kid's face, having enough of the brat.

Caleb stands there with wide eyes. Stunned by the lady's outburst. But he soon comes back to his senses.

"...You people are hiding it from me...you don't want me to have it because you want it all for yourselves!" Caleb accuses the angry employee.

"Come on buddy hurry up! I'm starving!" A guy from the line shouts at him.

"Shut up!" Caleb quickly yells back before turning his attention back to the cashier. "Well if you won't give me the sauce, I guess I'll get it myself!"

Caleb then attempts to jump over the counter, but due to his lack of physical fitness, he instead awkwardly tries to climb over.

"Oh no you don't!" The cashier retaliates by grabbing a nearby broom and whacking the pudgy raccoon several times.

"AAAA! AAACK! STOP AAH!" Caleb tries to brace himself, but to no use.

The woman fiercly swings the broom like a baseball bat, knocking the teen onto the floor.

"Get out or I'll call the cops!" The cashier bellows as the terrified raccoon scuttles out of the burger joint. Everyone in the building is applauding her heroic action.

Caleb runs away as fast as he can until he reaches an alleyway about a block away. The boy is panting as he rubs the bruises he just acquired.

"Ow...bitch..." He grumbles to himself, with black-and-blues forming on his skin.

"I know they have the sauce there...I just know it...I gotta get it one way or another." He talks to himself, sitting on the ground with his back against a building's wall.

After a few moments of hard thinking, he snaps his fingers with clarity. "I know just what I'm going to do!"

...

It was night time, as the street lamps illuminated the street and the sky was blackened. A figure tries to stealthily move through the shadows, albeit not doing a very good job.

"Hehehe...those burger flippers won't know what hit them." Caleb snickers as he tiptoes down the street. He was wearing all black, disguising himself with the night.

He lurched towards a trash can that was across the street from the Chunky Burger and hid himself inside it, paying no mind that he was sitting on top of trash.

"There we go, now all I gotta do now is wait until they close so I can sneak in! Just like how Taro Silver did in Kintsugi Katana 3; Volume 2!" The dorky teen giggles at his master plan unfolding. "The waiting game begins..."

...

9 hours later...

...

Caleb snores fairly loudly as he is slumped over inside the trash can, his head and arm sticking out.

"For god's sake look at this clown, Caleb wake up!"

A sudden kick to the trash can woke the raccoon from his slumber as the metal garbage can was knocked over, spilling Caleb and a bunch of trash onto the sidewalk.

"Huh?! What?! What the?...James, Leon, Oskar?" Caleb lays on the ground, looking up at his three friends. A lean Caucasian human, a short purple cat, and a skinny green Puppet person. All dressed for school

"You know, you're lucky it's not trash day, or else you would be screwed." James looks down at his best friend displeased.

"Augh...wait...is it morning?! Damn it, I missed Chunky Burger's closing hours!" Caleb pouts as he stands up.

"Chunky Burger is open 24 hours dumbass." James replies in his usual manner.

"...oh..." Caleb looks at the ground awkwardly.

"Um...why are you dressed like zat?" Oskar asks, pointing out Caleb's all black clothing.

"If you ask me, I say the homeless burglar looks suits you well darling." Leon smirks, earning an eyeroll from the raccoon.

"Well, I was planning to break into the Chunky Burger when it closed...which it apparently doesn't."

His three friends stare at him with intrigue, but not surprise.

"Why?" They all ask in unison.

"So I can get the Kintsugi Katana Chunky Sauce of course!" Caleb answers.

"They ran out pretty much immediately." James says.

"That's what they say." Caleb folds his arms with a cross look.

"Look..." James takes off his backpack and rummages inside, pulling out one of the fabled sauce packs. Caleb's eyes widen with total astonishment. "I got one yesterday, but you can have it if you want it."

Caleb smiles as he takes the sauce with glee, holding it close to his heart. "AAAA Thank you thank you thank you!" The raccoon cries with pure joy.

"Yeah no problem." James shrugs, happy with his friend's reaction. "Anyway, school's gonna start soon. Go home and take a shower."

"Yeah darling, you smell slightly worse than you do normally." Leon chimes in.

"Oh okay! I'll meet you at school! I gotta put this thing on my shelf!...and take a shower." With that, Caleb heads his way home.

The three friends continue their walk to school.

"Hey Jamie?"

"Yeah Leon?"

"Why didn't you tell him about the 19 other sauce things you bought?" Leon asks.

"Ha! Because I know I can make some dough for these if I sell them on ibay , one's enough for the guy." James smiles, cash on his mind.


	36. A Parappa Town Halloween

October 31st is the current date in Parappa Town. Plenty of homes are decorated with festive Halloween decor, and the crisp chill of the air drives home the fact that Autumn was in it's peak.

There was going to be a Halloween party at Club Fun that night, where people would dress up in their Halloween costumes and have a good time. MC King Kong Mushi was going to perform that night, and who did he invite to co-star the show? You guessed it.

"Parappa! I heard you were going to rap tonight!" Katy says over the phone to the hip hop hero, who was resting on his bed. He had his face-painted to look like a skeleton. Wearing a Skeleton themed sweatshirt along with it.

"Yep! I can't wait! I'm already dressed up in my costume too!" Parappa smiles excitedly.

"Me too! I just have to pick-up the girls and we'll head on over to the club!" The blue cat speaks in her usual positive tone of voice.

"Okay! I'll be there soon too!"

"Groovy! See you later!"

"Bye!"

With that, Parappa ends his phone call with Katy. The pup heads down the stairs and into the living room, ready to embark his journey to the Halloween Party.

"Mom! I'm gonna get going to the Halloween party!" Parappa calls to his mother, who is walking out of the kitchen with a bowl of candy in her hands.

Mama Rappa was the only person other than Parappa who was still home. Pinto was with her friends trick-or-treating, and Papa Rappa was chaperoning them. Chop Chop Master Onion and Guru Ant on the other hand went to go out to eat. Not really by their choice, but rather that Papa Rappa gave them each some money and sent them away for the evening. He didn't want them at the house, scaring away any trick-or-treaters with their constant arguing.

"Okay hun, have a good ti-"

Ding-dong

"Oh hey, the first trick-or-treater's here!" Mama smiles as she heads over to the door with the bowl of candy in hand. The blonde firewoman opens the door.

"Trick-or-treat!" PJ says, holding out his orange plastic pumpkin.

"Oh hi PJ! What are you supposed to be?" Mama smiles warmly at her son's best friend.

"I'm a toga-man!" He exclaims proudly. He was wearing his bed-sheet like a toga.

"PJ? What are you doing?" Parappa steps out from behind his mom, looking at the bear.

"I'm selling your Mom insurance. What do you think I'm doing?!" PJ sarcastically replies to his friend's dumb question.

"No, I mean, aren't you going to the Halloween party?" The pup asks.

"Of course I am! I'm just doing a little bit of trick-or-treating! It's not Halloween if you don't trick-or-treat."

"But the party's gonna be starting soon!" Parappa picks up his voice in urgency, not wanting PJ to be late for the gig.

"Dude, we still got time! Enough time to hit up a few houses! Why don't you come trick-or-treating with me?" The teddy bear invites his friend to go with him.

"I don't know man...we're 15 now, don't you think we're to old to be doing this?" Parappa asks the bear with some uncertainty.

"We only live once Parappa, and we have our whole lives to do boring adult stuff. I want to spend the present having fun." PJ speaks his thoughts to him.

"C'mon sweetie, go get some candy! You're never to old to enjoy Halloween!" Parappa's Mom beams as she puts he arm around his shoulder.

"Well...I guess you're right." Parappa admits, smiling gently as PJ wraps his arm around his shoulder, a look of delight on the sleepy bear's face.

Mama Rappa waved the boys goodbye as the two best friends made their way down the street. Their path was illuminated by the street lights as other children were wandering the sidewalks, going from house to house.

"Alright, so the party starts in about 45 minutes. So we should have enough time to stop by a few houses before we walk down to Club Fun." Parappa explains the plan to PJ as they walk down the sidewalk.

The boys walk up to the first house they choose. A little one-story brick house with red paint. They walk up the stairs and onto the porch, where Parappa rings the doorbell.

A moment later, the door opens. Standing there is an anthropormorphic turkey, wearing a black top-heavy and a brown colored suit with a little red tie.

"Trick-or-treat!"

"Oh! Well well well. What terrifying monsters you two are." The turkey man comments on Parappa and PJ's appearance.

"Let's see, a spooky bone man and a bed-sheet man! My my, you two are making me quiver with fright!"

"Hehe Yeah, can we have some candy ple-"

"You two are certainly masters in costume design, because I cannot stop trembling!" The turkey interrupts Parappa, being overly dramatic.

"Thanks, can we please-"

"Oh goodness gracious, I'm chilled to the bone! You two are frightening me so much!" He picks up his voice, sounding even more scared.

"Uh-"

"I can't take this anymore, get off my property you hoodlums!" The turkey shouts as he slams the door, leaving the boys to look at each other confused.

"Well uh...that was weird." Parappa remarks as they leave to go find their next house.

"We were just too spooky for him." PJ shrugs.

They walk further down the street until they come across a two-story house painted light green, with a baby blue roof.

The Rapper and the DJ walk up the path to the door and ring the doorbell.

The door opens, revealing a tall white canine with a somewhat disturbing wide, toothy smile.

"Uh...tr-trick-or treat?" The boys say, slightly unnerved.

"Hello there! Unfortunately I don't have any candy, but I do have something better!" The tall dog says, looking down at the teens.

"What is it?"

"Dental Floss!" The man smiles as he puts a handful of dental floss in both of their plastic pumpkins.

"Dental Floss? Who gives out dental floss on Halloween?" PJ looks both disappointed and dissatisfied with his offering.

"You see, I'm a dentist! It's my job to make sure people's teeth stay nice and healthy! Eating too many sweets is a good way to end up with a cavity, so I'm doing what I can to help kids with their dental hygiene." The dentist explains.

"Can you eat these?" PJ questions him.

"I wouldn't recommend it."

"We're out of here, come on Parappa." PJ looks annoyed as he and Parappa take their leave.

Parappa and PJ keep moving further down the neighborhood, hoping to go somewhere that won't lecture them about dental health. They eventually find a small one-story house with white walls and a black-tiled roof. The house was extravagantly decorated for the holiday, with finely carved jack-o'-lanterns placed strategically along the walkway to the door, and beautiful paper cut spider webs elegantly hanging along the porch.

"Whoa, if this place doesn't have something good, I don't know what will." Parappa turned his head toward PJ before ringing the doorbell.

"Comiiiiing~" The voice boomed from the other side of the door.

"That voice sounds familiar." Parappa thinks to himself before the door opens.

It was none other than the High School Drama teacher, Miss Thalia. She was wearing her trademark theater mask along with a dark gray turtleneck sweater and black yoga pants.

"Happy Halloween Children!" Miss Thalia joyously greets Parappa and PJ.

"My, don't you two look absolutely wonderful in those costumes!" Thank compliments the boys' apparel.

"Oh thanks!" Parappa smiles at the compliment.

"Do tell me, what are your stories?" She asks with intrigue.

"Huh?" Both Parappa and PJ shoot her a confused look.

"With every great costume, comes a great story behind it! Not only must you dress for the part, you must know the part!" The drama teacher explains.

"Well I uh...I um...I didn't look both ways before I crossed the street...and I died." Parappa improvises a backstory on the spot.

"And you walk the Earth, numbing your misery with sweets from the realm of the living! Not bad!" Miss Thalia claps with delight. "What about you dear?" She looks towards the teddy bear. "Are you a noble from Ancient Grecos perhaps?"

"No, I'm a toga man." PJ bluntly says.

"A toga man...with some kind of purpose I imagine?" Miss Thalia taps the chin of her mask with thought.

"Yeah, a purpose of getting something sweet to eat."

"Oooookay...needs some work." Thalia says to herself quietly.

She then claps her hands once more, returning her attention to the boys. "Right then! I suppose you children want a treat!"

"Yeah!" Both Parappa and PJ cheer in unison.

"Here you go!" She gives both boys a piece of paper.

"What the heck is this?" Parappa looks at the paper with a funny look.

"Two tickets to the Spring Musical! It will be real sweet and quite the treat don't you think?" Miss Thalia happily giggles.

"But-"

"Well, have a safe night Children! Happy Halloween!" With that, Miss Thalia closes her door before Parappa could say anything.

PJ stares at the ticket he was given and quivers his lip. "I can't eat this..."

Both boys leave Thalia's property with sadness in their eyes. Parappa glances at his cellphone, and his eyes grow a bit wider.

"Oh geez, we only have 20 minutes until the party starts! We don't have much time left..." The rapper solemnly admits, sighing as he stares at the ground.

"Hey, don't worry Parappa, we still have time for one more stop. And I know a place that definitely has candy." PJ rubs the dog's back.

"Really? Where?"

"C'mon!" PJ takes Parappa's hand and leads him to their destination. After walking down the street, they arrive.

"Wait a second, PJ, this is your house." Parappa says as he instantly recognizes the Berri residence.

"Exactly." PJ smiles at his best friend as he knocks on the door.

The front door quickly swings open and a large figure wearing a monster mask steps out.

" **BOO!** "

"AAAA!" Parappa falls on his butt, startled by the scare.

The man bellows a hearty laugh as he takes off the mask, revealing to be PJ's father.

"Ha ha ha! That was priceless!" Mr. Berri twiddles his handlebar mustache as he continues to chuckle. PJ's mother walks next to him and gives him a light elbow to the side.

"Theodore! What did I tell you about scaring the trick-or-treaters!" Mrs. Berri folds her arms as she scolds her husband.

"Oh relax dear, it's just PJ and his friend Placenta."

"Parappa."

"Yeah, Parappa." Mr. Berri corrects himself.

"Hi Mom, Hi Dad." PJ greets his parents.

"Hello sweetie, what brings you two back here so early? I thought you were going to the party at Club Fun?" Mrs. Berri wonders.

"We were about to go, but we just came so Parappa can get some candy." The Berri boy explains, pointing at Parappa's mostly empty plastic pumpkin.

"Oh of course, here you go kiddo!" Mr. Berri grabs a big handful of king sized candy bars and puts in inside Parappa's pumpkin.

"Whoa...thanks!" Parappa grins at the large amount of candy he's received.

"Eh don't sweat it son, it's the least we could do for our boy's best friend." Mr. and Mrs. Berri smile warmly at the pup. "Now you two better get going to that party. You don't want to be...choco-late." PJ's Dad looks at everyone with a dumb smile on his face as everyone stared at him silently.

"Get it? Because...I gave you chocolate...heh..." Mr. Berri looks towards the ground in shame.

...

Club Fun was packed with people dressed up in costume. People were murmuring to themselves, waiting for the show to begin.

"I hope Parappa isn't late..." Sunny looks worried as she and MilkCan were in the front row. Sunny was wearing a rogue princess costume, with a tattered blue dress and a tiara.

"Oh don't worry, he wouldn't miss a chance to rap on stage. Katy reassures her friend. Katy was dressed as a tiger, wearing orange and black stripped clothing with matching face-paint. Lammy and Ma-San accompanied her too, with Lammy dressed up as a zombie and Ma-San wearing a white-sheet over herself, with two eye-holes. A very half-effort ghost.

Just then the lights start to dim, and a voice booms over the speakers. "Parappa Town, are we ready to have a good time?!"

The crowd cheers as the sound of the records being scratched could be heard. The big red curtains on the stage open up, revealing the stars of the show. MC King Kong Mushi and Parappa were on the stage, with DJ PJ behind his table. The audience cheers even louder as the show begins.

...

Loading...

...

"Yeah Club Fun! Let's get this show on the road! Here we go!"

"It's that time again, comes once every year! It makes all the boys and girls go cheer!"

"Everyone loves to taste all the sweets, with all the decorations it sure looks neats!"

"It might be the end of October, but I don't want this day to be over!"

"Hear the rhythm and speak the rhymes, I want everyone here to have a good time!"

"Everybody say Heeeey!"

 **"Heeeey!"**

"Yo! Yo!"

 **"Yo! Yo!"**

"Knock on the door!"

 **"Knock on the door!"**

"Happy Halloween!"

 **"Happy Halloween!"**

"Everybody wants to feel nice and dandy, to have their pumpkins filled with yummy candy!"

"Dressing up and doing your hair, you just might give someone a scare!"

"Vampires, werewolves, or mummies! Eating sweet chocolate sure is yummy!"

"Hanging with your friends, your dog, or your Mom! I love Halloween, it sure is the bomb!"

"Everybody say Heeeey!"

 **"Heeeey!"**

"Yo! Yo!"

 **"Yo! Yo!"**

"Knock on the door!"

 **"Knock on the door!"**

"Happy Halloween!"

 **"Happy Halloween!"**

"Spooky, scary, hearts filled with fright! But it's okay because it's Halloween night!"

"Pumpkins, spider webs, and ghosts! Days like these you have to make the most!"

"It might be the last day of October, don't look now but tomorrow's November!"

"Y'all might like heroes, like Thunder Bunny! But this goes out to you, Sunny Funny!"

"Everybody say Heeeey!"

 **"Heeeey!"**

"Yo! Yo!"

 **"Yo! Yo!"**

"Knock on the door!"

 **"Knock on the door!"**

"Happy Halloween!"

 **"Happy Halloween!"**

 **...**

The audience goes wild as the song ends, King Kong Mushi and Parappa bow to the crowd as PJ plays them off.


	37. Super Senpai Ultimate X

It was a mild-weathered day in early November, the leaves on the trees were becoming Brown if they haven't fallen off already. A cool breeze sends a few leaves gliding over the sidewalk outside of the Comic Guild, Parappa Town's little comic book store.

"This is such bullcrap! Have you guys read the first volume of Kintsugi Katana 4?! It's garbage!" Caleb, an overweight raccoon teen, complains as he sits on a bean-bag chair in the corner of the shop.

"What pisses you off today Caleb?" James, a lean human teenager, asks in a dry manor as he rests his head in his palm behind the counter.

James recently got a part-time job working at the Comic Guild, so he and the rest of the school tech club have been using the place as an after-school hangout.

"Oh nothing, just the fact that my favorite manga series is ruined." The raccoon pouts, throwing the book onto the floor.

"Every time something inconveniences you, you say it's ruined." James replies.

"This is different! The Kintsugi Katana series is one of my favorite anime slash manga series of all time! The new edition blatantly takes everything KK3 had and ruins it!" The raccoon pouts in a very disappointed manner.

"Maybe if you didn't have such trash taste, you would have realized Kintsugi Katana has always sucked." Leon grins as he sits on the counter next to James.

"Stay out of this litterbox." Caleb frowns at the feline.

"Wh-what's so bad about it?" Oskar, a green puppet person, asks in his usual timid tone of voice.

"Where do I start? How about how it says that Taro Silver became a cyborg in order to defeat Makoto Gold at his wedding, but canon states that he became a cyborg to avenge his brother! It's so dumb!" Caleb throws his arms up in the air with anger.

"Then just read something else, like Diamond Fashion Forever Z." Leon holds up an issue of his favorite manga.

"For the last time, I'm not reading that shit." The fat raccoon frowns at the purple cat.

"Anime and manga is overrated. I don't see why you just don't read Marble Comics like I do." James suggests.

"Ah yes, Marble and it's stupid storylines and boring, stale characters." Caleb says, rolling his eyes.

"Then make your own manga then, god damn!" James shouts, angry over the constant whining.

As he said that, the raccoon's eyes light up. "Make my own manga...that...that's actually a good idea."

Caleb gets up from his bean bag chair. "If I create my own manga, then that means stupid people won't be able to ruin it! I'll create the masterpiece that I know I could make!"

James, Leon, and Oskar exchange looks to each other as their otaku friend picks up his Die la Die anime themed back-pack.

"Adios! The next time you see me, I'll be the hottest mangaka on the market! Haha!" The big teen scuttles out of the comic book store with pep in his step.

"Uh...did...did anyone else see zat he took a stack of comics with him?" Oskar points out to his friends.

James glances over to the shelf that was next to where Caleb was sitting, seeing almost a whole row of mangas missing. The human exhales through his nose in an irritated fashion, knowing that shit's coming out of his paycheck.

...

It was around dusk at this time, and at the Coonby residence, Caleb was held up in his room scribbling away on his little desk area. The boys' room had multiple anime and manga themed posters hung up around the room, with other merchandise cluttering up almost all the shelf-space in the room.

"C'mon...augh dammit." The raccoon huffs with annoyance as he balls up the paper he was drawing on and blindly attempts to toss it in his little waste-paper basket. He's been at this for some time since the floor around the small trash-bin was littered with paper.

The door to his room opens up, revealing a large adult raccoon who was also overweight. He was wearing a large green collared shirt, and was holding a brown bottle in his hand.

"Caleb, what the hell are you doing?" The man asks the mangaka hard at work.

"Leave me alone Dad I'm busy." Caleb says, continuing to keep at it.

His father scoffs as he shakes his head. "Busy, right. I'm sure you're hard at work their son, being productive for once in your life. Oh wait, that's to good to be true since you're screwing around with your cartoon bullshit."

The teen grumbles under his breath as he doesn't even glance at his father.

"What was that?" The middle-aged raccoon frowns, his voice sounding irritable.

"...nothing." Caleb quietly says.

His Dad scoffs once again as he takes a long sip out of the bottle. He quietly stares at his son for several seconds, making Caleb feel very uncomfortable, but he tries to ignore it. After a little while, Caleb's father speaks.

"I'm going to bed. Don't wake me up." He turns around and proceeds to slam the door. Caleb quits scribbling for a few moments, then without saying a word, he resumes once again.

...

4 A.M. is what the clock read as the aspiring artist kept furiously drawing on the paper. His tongue was sticking out from the side of his mouth as dark bags were visible from under his eyes. He had gone through multiple sheets of paper, but less and less were getting thrown out.

A few minutes pass and Caleb throws his pencil down, feeling as if he just dropped a fifty pound weight. "There...it's finished." Caleb tiredly proclaims, cracking the knuckles of his sore right hand.

The raccoon pulls out his phone, completely ignoring the time and going straight into messenger. The only thing on his mind was sharing the good news with his best friend.

Caleb: dude, i did it man. i freakin did it.

A few minutes pass before he gets a response.

James: Caleb it's 4 in the fucking morning.

Caleb: i don't care man, i did it.

James: Also did you know that you stole $50 worth of manga today. Guess who's paycheck that's coming out of. :(

Caleb: yeah ok but i finished it. i finished my manga!

Another minute goes by before James responds.

James: ...You were actually serious?

Caleb: yeah

James: Well shit :0

Caleb: wanna see the cover?

James: Sure.

The raccoon takes a picture of the cover and sends him it. He responds soon after.

James: Oh wow.

Caleb: it's called Super Senpai Ultimate X. the girl on the cover is the main char., her name is Fumiko Femme and she is an alien from Pluto.

James: Her anatomy sure is something.

Caleb: her duty in life is to protect the other main char., a guy named Cal. who is foretold to be the chosen one.

James: Oh boy.

Caleb: Cal and Fumiko fight robots, and aliens, and zombies, and fry cooks, all kinds of bad guys.

James: That's cool and all but we have to go to school in 2 hours and I need to sleep.

Caleb: i'm not goin to school tomorrow im gonna go door 2 door selling my manga.

James: What the hell who does that?

Caleb: me

James: Dude we have a Geometry exam tomorrow and we got to fix Mr. Johnson's computer.

Caleb: you n Oskar can handle it. next time you see me ill be rolling in bank bby.

James: Whatever you say dude, see you tomorrow.

With that, Caleb puts down his phone and climbs in bed. He hugs his Myuku Ratoi body pillow tightly as he prepares to sleep. He cannot wait to begin a new chapter of his life tomorrow.

...

Knock knock knock

The door opens, revealing an anthropomorphic turkey wearing a brown suit.

"Hello sir, would you be interested in buying the first issue of the hit manga series Super Senpai Ultimate X?" Caleb was dressed up in a big puffy green winter coat, with his backpack slung over his back. Instead of it being filled with important things like school supplies, he has multiple copies of his manga stuff in there.

"Oooooh, well well! It's always refreshing to see today's youth creating literature." The turkey man smiles. "May I examine one of your fine graphic novels, young man?"

Caleb hands the man a copy of the manga. "If ya like what you see, that'll be twenty bucks!"

The turkey flips through the pages, and his goofy smile turns into a confused look. "What's... this doesn't seem quite right...the pages are out of order."

"It's a manga dude, you read it right-to-left."

The turkey's eyes widen in bloodshot horror. "R-right-to-left?! What...what is this sorcery?!"

"Uh..."

The turkey turns to Caleb, his eyes filled with fury as he throws the copy back at him. "Get off my lawn you hooligan! Begone! **Gobble gobble gobble!** " He furiously gobbles at the portly raccoon, who immediately flees from the property.

...

Knock knock knock

The door to the next house opens, answered by a small elderly canine woman.

"I'm not interested in your religion sonny." She says in a deadpan manner.

"Don't worry ma'am, I got something for you that's better than religion!"

The old woman raises her eyebrow, ever so slightly intrigued.

"...manga!"

With that, she slams the door in Caleb's poor face. The raccoon slumps over in disappointment.

...

Knock knock knock

The door opens up, revealing it to be none other than Papa Rappa. He stares at Caleb's forced smile for a few moments, feeling uncomfortable.

"Uh...can I help you son?"

Caleb slowly raises a copy of his manga, wiggling it right in front of the very confused canine.

"Manga. Twenty dollars." Caleb states, flashing off the manga as if were a stack of dollar bills.

Papa Rappa cautiously looks around the area behind the raccoon, making sure this isn't some weird attempt at a home invasion.

"Shouldn't you be in school son?"

"Pffft. Who needs school when I'm an aspiring artist!" Caleb folds his arms with a roll of his eyes.

"Good lord..." Papa scratches the back of his neck, feeling sorry for this troubled youth.

Suddenly, a middle-aged onion in an old karate uniform barges his way next to the dog.

"What's going on? Is it another girl scout selling cookies? Can you buy me some cookies?" Chop Chop Master Onion shoots a look at the hat-wearing dog.

"No! And he's not even selling cookies, he's selling mangoes, or whatever he called it." Papa explains to the onion.

"What?" Chop Chop raises his eyebrow.

"For the love of- not mangoes you pleb. Manga." Caleb frowns at the canine's ignorance of the subject.

Chop Chop's eyes narrow at the raccoon teenager. "Mangaka...you people are in this country too?!" The karate teachers quickly turns around and runs back inside the house.

"Get away from him Mr. Rappa, he is dangerous!" Chop Chop yells from inside the house.

"What are you talking ab-"

Before Papa Rappa could finish, Master Onion returns with a broom, running right at Caleb with it.

"HIIIIIYATATATATAAAA!" He shouts as he swings at the frightened raccoon, who once again runs away.

The chubby raccoon scrambles away as Papa Rappa tries his hardest to restrain Chop Chop from chasing him down the street.

...

Caleb walks down the sidewalk of main street, a little tear in his eye as he solemnly looks at a copy of his story.

"Wh-why doesn't a-anybody want to b-buy my manga..." Caleb sniffles.

As the poor raccoon walked past an alleyway, he hears rummaging coming from one of the dumpsters. For some odd reason, Caleb decides to investigate.

Upon walking up to the dumpster, he sees a man digging through it. Mumbling to himself in an almost crazed manner.

"Uh...hello?" Caleb cautiously speaks up.

The man in the dumpster turns around to look at him, revealing to be a big deer with pointy antlers and a scruffy beard. It was good ol' Ho-Beau.

The raccoon and the deer stare at each other for a few awkward moments before the deer breaks the silence.

"...what?"

"Do you...do you want a manga?" Caleb sniffles as he shows him the copy in his hands.

"Is it...is it drugs?" The old dirty deer asks the teen.

"No...it's a comic."

"Eh, sorry kid, I can't read to well. Come back when you got drugs." With that, Ho-Beau returns to dumpster diving.

"Wait, I'll get you drugs if you buy it." Caleb says, but falls on deaf ears. The raccoon sighs and walks away in sadness.

...

A several hours pass as it was late in the afternoon, and it was normal as usual at the Comic Guild.

"So anyway, the guy tells me he's a model for Stunning Style magazine, and he gives me his number. He told me I have what it takes to become the next top male motel~ So expect to see me on the covers of magazines in the coming months." Leon happily explains to James in Oskar in his usual artful tone.

"Leon why do you need to always lie." James deadpanned as he calls him out.

Before Leon could come up with a retort, Caleb barges into the shop.

"I hope you're all happy!" Caleb grumpily shouts as he slumps down in his beanbag chair, pouting.

"Who spit in your cereal darling?" Leon smirks at Caleb's attitude.

"God did." The raccoon simple said as he pouts again.

"Sell any of your mangas?" James asks nonchalantly.

"No. Nobody in this town cares about culture." Caleb looks cross as he stares at the floor.

"Nobody wants to deal with a door-to-door manga salesman. You could have saved yourself the trouble and just tried to sell it here." James explains.

Caleb quickly turns towards him. "Are you telling me I could have done that from the start?"

"You'll have to talk with the boss about it, but I wouldn't see why he wouldn't let you sell it, as long as the store got half the profits."

"Shit that's fine with me! Be thankful that this place will be booming with business once these fly off the shelves!" Caleb's mood changes back for the better.

"Just know that half of what you make goes to me since you still stole a bunch of comics." James says in a serious tone.

"10%." Caleb haggles.

James puts his arm around Caleb's shoulder, a calm but intimidating look present on his face.

"Half."

"O-okay half." Caleb steps back, not wanting to piss James off more.

The door bell jingles as Ho-Beau steps inside the store, causing all four boys to look towards him.

"Hey kid uh... does...does your offer still stand?"


	38. A Parappa Town Christmas

It was early December as Parappa Town was readying itself for another holiday season.

Christmas trees being put up, lights decorating houses, cold weather that turns your breath into visible steam, and who could forget parents taking their kids to go see Santa Claus at the mall!

This is where our story begins, with an ambulance speeding away from the Parappa Town Shopping Mall with its lights flashing and its sirens blaring.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" A small, portly gopher shouted with panic and anger.

The teenager dressed in a green elf costume put his hands up defensively as he began to explain himself.

"L-Look man, I don't know h-how this happened! The Mall Santa guy just took a bite out of one of the cookies and his throat swelled up! I think he was allergic to the raisins or something!" The teen dog with blonde hair repositioned his elf cap as he speaks at a fast, worried rate.

"Why would you give him oatmeal and raisin cookies?! Everyone knows that stuff's disgusting!" The Gopher manager yelled at the poor teen.

"Hey, they're not that bad!" The boy retorts.

"Well they were bad enough that IT ALMOST KILLED HIM!" The gopher man's face went red with anger as he freaked out.

"Look here Matt, we need a new Santa by tonight, or else we'll have to close down the Meet Santa attraction, and you'll be out of a job!" The gopher threatens the boy.

"Okay okay! I understand... I'll find a replacement by tonight, don't worry." Matt promises his boss, trying to save face.

"I hope you do, for your sake!" With that, Matt's boss walks away.

The blonde teen takes his elf cap off as he scratches his head. He needs to find a good enough replacement santa with little time to spare. Who does he know that fits the physical characteristics of Santa Claus?

...

No one.

"Dang it." Matt sighs in defeat right before having one last spark of an idea. With a new plan, the boy pulls out his cellphone and makes a call.

...

Some time has past as Matt paces back in forth in his stupid little elf costume, hoping that his idea will end up working. He really needs this job, even if it's degrading and embarrassing.

"I'm here."

Matt quickly turns around to face his friend.

"PJ! Thank god you showed up!" Matt sighs in relief at his friend's presence.

"It's no big deal, so what do you want me to do again?" The tired teddy bear questions his dog friend as he gives out a yawn.

"Well, you see, I uh...I need you to be...you know...Santa for tonight." Matt awkwardly states.

"Why do you want me to be santa?" PJ asks Matt as he scratches his ear.

"Well, because everyone else I know isn't...uh..." Matt tries to think of the right words to use.

"Isn't fat?" PJ blunted says it.

"What? No, I mean yes. I mean-"

"Will there be cookies?" PJ changes the topic.

"Uh...I got plenty of oatmeal raisin cookies...you won't die if you eat these right?" Matt squints at the teddy bear as he is hesitant to give PJ the plate of cookies.

"I'll try not to." PJ smiles as he takes hold of the plate as he starts eating.

"Anyway...you'll need these." Matt hands the bear a fake, white beard and a red silky Santa costume.

PJ puts on the apparel while eating his cookies and turns to Matt.

"So, do I look like Santa?" He questions the elf.

"Well, you definitely look like...uh...something." Matt stares at the poorly dressed santa as he rubs the back of his head.

...

Night time has come as PJ sits on Santa's chair as Matt stands next to him. Eager children wait in line as they prepare to meet the santa.

"Um...Ho Ho Ho...er...Merry Christmas." PJ unenthusiastically greet the children as he quickly shoves a cookie in his mouth.

"Sho, mmm, whosh goin firsh?" PJ asks Matt the Elf with his mouth full.

"Well first, Santa doesn't talk with his mouth full." Matt frowns at the uncharacteristic santa.

"Shanta dosh whatevah he wantsh." PJ retorts as he continues to scarf down the cookies.

Matt rolls his eyes as he picks up the kid from front of the line.

"Okay little guy, you can see santa first!" The elf dog says to the little boy as he placed him on PJ's lap.

"Santa!" The little puppy boy beams up at who he thinks is the actual Santa Claus.

"Ho Ho Ho, what's up." PJ asks the boy with his awful attempt at a Santa impersonation.

"Well...I want a new fire truck."

"Uh huh."

"A new soccer ball"

"Uh huh."

"A new GameStation 2."

About 30 minutes pass as the kid continues to list the things he wants for Christmas. PJ fell asleep awhile ago and Matt is clearly looking impatient and frustrated.

"...And a new MC King Kong Mushi Action Figure! ... Santa?" The little boy pokes at the sleeping bear.

"Whuh? Huh?" PJ groggily responds as he suddenly wakes up from his nap.

"Santa! Didn't you hear anything I said?" The little puppy pouted.

"Uh...can you repeat it back to me?" Santa suggests as Matt shot him a glare.

"Oh okay! I want a new-"

"Okay that's it for now who's next?!" Matt quickly takes the kid off of PJ's lap and allows the next child to come up.

A small boy with a cherry for a head casually walks up to Santa and sits on his lap.

"Ho ho ho...what do you want?" PJ poorly greets the boy.

"I want those cookies." The boy says as he points to the oatmeal raisin cookies in PJ's pocket.

"Uh...no." PJ tries to hide the cookies from the child by tucking them deeper into his pocket.

"I want those cookies!" The boy demands with a frown.

"No, they're mine." PJ argues back, making the situation worse.

"GIMME DEM COOKIES!" The boy yells at Santa, starting to cause a scene.

"Santa's gonna shove coal down you're throat if you don't lay off my cookies." PJ threatens the child in a very unseasonable fashion.

"PJ-I mean Santa, just give him a cookie." Matt feels kinda embarrassed about the ordeal.

"Gimme!" The boy tries to take the cookies from PJ's pocket until he slapped it away. The boy held his hand in a silent stunned fashion until he broke down bawling. He ran away from the mean Santa as Matt quietly freaks out on PJ.

"PJ! Santa doesn't hit kids! What's the matter with you!?" Matt furiously whispers at the teddy bear.

"He tried to steal my cookies!" Santa PJ argues back.

"Well Santa doesn't hit kids! You're ruining this for me! I need this!" Matt basically begs PJ.

"Okay...fine, I promise I'll be good alright?" PJ promises Matt as the elf sighs in relief.

"Okay...let's just get this over with." Matt picks up the next child and puts him on Santa's lap.

...

The rest of the night goes normally well, with a bunch of needy kids demanding poor Santa for presents. PJ is sitting with silent irritation as more and more annoying kids pester Santa for toys. Things continue this way until the last child remains.

"Okay...one more left." Matt huffs as PJ moans with exhaustion.

A small Koala girl with a black ponytail slowly walks up to Santa and gently climbs on his lap.

"Ho ho ho what do you want?" PJ quickly blurts out the question, just wanting to finish as soon as possible.

"Well...I kinda want two things..." The girl rubbed the back of her neck, looking at the floor with a saddened expression.

"Oh boy, what is it?" PJ rolls his eyes, wanting to get this over with.

"Well...my big brother wants a new flute...he likes to play the flute." The girl asks in a soft voice.

"Why didn't your brother come here too then?" PJ asks in a slightly stressed expression.

The little girl looks disheartened as she looks away, PJ sees this and replaces his looks with one of concern.

"My brother...he's...he's in the hospital..." The girls sheds a small tear as she quickly wipes it away.

"Oh...It's okay...I'll...I'll get him the flute alright?" PJ places his hand on the girl's shoulder, trying to cheer her up.

"Th-thanks Santa." She sniffles as she twiddles her thumbs.

"So...what would you like for Christmas?" PJ asks her in a softened tone.

"All I want is for my brother to get new kidneys..." The Koala girl is starting to cry at this point. PJ immediately hugs the girl, going with his teddy bear instincts to comfort her.

Matt sees that the girl is crying. "Uh...is everything alri-"

PJ puts his finger against his mouth, motioning for Matt to be quiet. He nods and backs away.

"Don't worry...Santa will help...Santa will help..." PJ continues to hug the child as he quietly rubs the girl's back.

...

After the last girl left with her mother, Matt's boss was satisfied with his work. As Matt sighed with relief, PJ can't stop thinking about the girl's wish. As the teddy bear was lost in thought, Matt approached him.

"Yo PJ!" He snaps PJ out of his thoughts as he began to strip away the elf costume, wearing his normal clothes underneath.

"I just want to thank you again for helping me out tonight! I really appreciate it and all." The teen dogs thanks his friend with a hug.

"Yeah...no prob man." PJ casually replies as he returned the hug.

"Anyway, I thought it would be fair if I gave you half of my pay, since you had to put up with all of these kids." He hands PJ the money he was given.

"Oh...thanks man." PJ thanks Matt as he thinks about what to buy with his newly earned cash.

"No prob dude, see you at school tomorrow." Matt bids his farewell as he is about to take off.

"Before Matt leaves, PJ calls for him. "Yo Matt?"

The tall dog turns around. "Yeah?"

"Can I borrow this costume for a bit longer?"

...

It was early morning at the Parappa Town Hospital, and on the third floor, in room 304, lies a young teen Koala boy. He sleeps as the heart monitor beeps in the background. A younger Koala girl sits by his side, staring at him with a saddened morose gaze. She holds her brother's hand with a sigh as her mother opens the door to see her.

"Sweetie?" The mother Koala calls for her daughter.

"Yeah Mommy?" She answers back, still holding her brother's hand.

"Someone's here to visit your brother." She smiles as she moves out of the way, revealing who it is.

The young Koala gasps in delight. "Santa?" She runs up to hug the teddy bear in the santa costume.

"Ho Ho Ho...hey kiddo." He hugs the girl with a warm smile.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" She questions Santa while still holding on to him.

"Well, I thought I would give your brother his present a little early." PJ says as he reveals a shiny new flute, wrapped in a pretty red silk ribbon.

The mother Koala smiles as the girl squeaks in delight. "Oh Santa, he'll love this!" She beams as she hugged Santa again with a tight squeeze.

"Heh...no problem kiddo...Merry Christmas." PJ smiles as he holds onto the happy child.


	39. Thief

The weather was warm. Humid. The sky was completely covered in clouds, where not even a speck of blue could be seen.

The small park in the center of the village wasn't much. An old semi-rusted swingset and a metal slide. But Ma-san loved to go play on the swings. The way she would swing high up made her feel tall.

(Father! Come on! I want to swing! I want to swing!) A significantly younger Ma-san tried to pull at her father's hand, attempting to make him hurry up.

(Relax young one. We'll be there soon.) Papa-Ma reassured his child, glancing at her with a quick smile. He looked away from her immediately though, his hand holding onto her's tightly. His attention was drawn to something else.

About 200 yards away he can see a commotion occuring on the road next to the park. A dark green military Jeep pulls over a car. Two yellow mice in green uniforms approach the vehicle, walking towards it with haste.

Papa-Ma watches the situation unfold, walking very slowly. Ma-san is clearly upset with her father's speed.

(Father, why are you walking so slow? I want to play!) Ma-san whines, a saddened expression appearing on her face.

(Be patient Ma-san.) The man says, continuing to watch the soldiers as he can hear them starting to shout at the driver of the vehicle.

Ma-san feels her dad's grip on her hand tighten slightly as he stops walking altogether.

(Father? What is it?) The mouse child asks with concern. Before Papa-Ma could answer her, things escalate.

One of the soldiers pulls a baton from his belt and smashes the window. Both soldiers proceed to yank the driver out of the car, who was screaming at this point. One of the uniformed men threw the driver to the ground, stomping and kicking without mercy. The second soldier used his baton on the unfortunate driver.

Papa-Ma's face was plastered with fear as Ma-san turned her attention to the incident that was occuring.

(Father? What are they-)

Without saying a word, Papa-Ma picked up the girl and began to walk away at a brisk pace.

(Father?! What's going on?! I want to go play!) Ma-san began to cry, not wanting to leave the park.

(Be quiet Ma-san. We're going home. Do not look behind us.) Papa-Ma says matter-of-factly.

The last thing Ma-san heard before they left the park was a blood-curdling scream.

...

(Ma-San! Wake up!)

The yellow mouse shot her head up, suddenly awakened from her little snooze. She was sitting behind the counter at her father's pharmacy, and he was staring at her with a displeased look, tapping his foot on the ground with his hands on his waist.

(What did I tell you about sleeping on the job!) Papa-Ma scolds her, speaking in their native tongue.

Papa-Ma was only a few inches taller than his daughter. Stress lines were evident on his forehead, right above a pair of black and gray bushy eyebrows. He was wearing a fitting white lab-coat and square rim glasses. Much like Ma-San, he didn't wear shoes either.

Ma-San rubbed her forehead with her index finger and thumb, leaning on the counter with her elbow. (Sorry Father. I barely got any sleep last night.)

(Because you were awake playing music with your friends, right?) Papa-Ma raises his eyebrow, disapproval noticeable in his tone.

(Yes...) Ma-San sighs, remembering staying up for a late practice session with MilkCan.

Her father shakes his head with objection. (Staying up all night playing music won't get you into Arkay Academy, you know.)

Arkay Academy was one of Rodney State's best medical schools. Located outside of Sunset City.

Ma-San simply rolled her eyes. Everyday it's with him telling her to become a doctor, and to quit playing in the band. She's tired of it.

Papa-Ma caught her eye-roll, frustrating him even more. (Do not roll your eyes at me young lady! When I was your age, I never had as many opportunities as you did! Your mother had virtually none! Be thankful that you have the chance to make a good living, a good future.)

(Alright, alright. Can you please leave me alone now?) Ma-San grumpily moans, trying to have her father cease his constant nagging.

(Will you not sleep while on the clock?) Papa-Ma questions her.

(Yes father...) Ma-San sighs.

(Very well then. The front of the store needs sweeping. You know what to do.) With that being said, Papa-Ma heads to the back of the store.

Ma-San takes a small sip of the bottle of lemonade she had on the counter and got up to do her task.

...

About an hours passes as it was properly night time now. The store was dead as only a few costumers remained as closing time was only 30 minutes away. Ma-San occupied herself with cleaning the windows at the front of the pharmacy while Papa-Ma just finished dealing with a customer at the counter. As he said his goodbyes to the customer, something catches the man's eye.

A person walked through the front entrance, the door bell chimed as it opened. The person was wearing a black hoodie and dark gray, holey jeans. The person had it's hood up, concealing most of the face. This made him immediately suspicious.

Ma-San was to busy to be paying attention, but Papa-Ma kept his eyes on the hooded person.

The figure calmly made it's way towards one the aisles, oblivious to the fact that the Pharmacy's owner was watching their every move.

Whoever this person is, they picked up a little pill box off the shelves, reading the label. Soon they turned their head both ways cautiously. Papa-Ma new what was about to come next.

As the person slipped the box of pills into the hoodie's pocket, Papa-Ma called them out.

"Take that out of your pocket immediately!" He yells in English. The figure gets startled by this as Ma-San and the few remaining customers turn to face what's going on.

Without wasting another second, the hooded person ignores Papa-Ma's order and runs out of the store.

"STOP! THIEF!" Papa-Ma shouts as he waves his fist angrily.

Ma-San drops whatever she was doing and gives chase, she rushes out of the store and after the perp. The last thing she hears before running outside is her father telling her to wait, but it falls on deaf ears.

The drummer sprints after the shoplifter, the street-lights illuminating the sidewalk during this cold night. The thief quickly turns their head to see Ma-San coming right after them. This visibly freaks them out as they try to pick up the pace, turning into an alleyway. It's no use though, as Ma-San is more athletic than she looks. She catches up to the perp in no time, wrapping her arms around their legs as she tackles the thief to the dirty alley ground.

" **AAaaugh!** Get the hell off of me!" The hooded shoplifter yells out in a rough, feminine voice.

"Hand it over!" Ma-San growls as she pinned them to the ground with her knee, one hand holding the perp up by the hoodie's collar, and the other balled into a fist, ready to knock their lights out.

With a grunt, the person pulls out the box from their pocket, revealing to be a box of allergy relief pills.

Ma-San snatches the box of pills and puts it in her dress pocket and proceeds to unhood the figure.

Her eye's widen with surprise upon seeing the person's identity.

It was Rammy. Her face was covered with dirt, and her hair was messy. Not to mention her nose was runny as well.

"Wait a second, I know you! You're that clone of Lammy!" Ma-San exclaims.

"Pfft! I ain't no clone! If anything that loser's my clone! Now get the fuck off of me!" Rammy struggles under Ma-San's strength, but it was clear she couldn't get out of this one.

"No! You're not going anywhere until the cops come!" Ma-San bluntly says, continuing to pin her to the ground.

"What, you're going to send me to jail over a box of medicine?" Rammy frowns at the mouse, sniffling as snot runs down her face.

"My family owns that pharmacy. You're stealing from not only me, but my parents." Ma-San retorts, not giving her any comfort.

"I can't go to jail! You can't make me!" Rammy shouts, struggling even more.

"Maybe you should have bought those pills like everyone else." Ma-San frowns, effortlessly shutting down her resistance.

"With what money?! I'm broke! I don't even have a god damn home! And now I'm going to jail for getting medicine for myself! Just fucking kill me now..." Rammy finally gives up. Looking truly defeated as she sniffles once more.

Ma-San thinks to herself, looking less angry than before. A few seconds pass before she decides to get off of the homeless Ramb with a sigh.

Rammy looks shocked, but immediately gets off the ground. As she is about to run away, Ma-San speaks to her.

"Hey."

Rammy quickly turns around with a frown.

"Catch." The yellow mouse takes the pills from out of her pocket and tosses it to the sick Rammy.

She catches the box with both her hands, and after spending a moment to contemplate things, she mutters one last word.

"...Thanks."

Saying that, she turns around and books it. Leaving Ma-San alone in the dark alleyway.

...

Ma-San returns to the pharmacy, seeing her worried parents waiting for her inside.

Mama-Ma wraps her in a big hug. (Oh daughter! You're safe!) She cries with relief.

Mama-ma was a slightly portly woman who was a couple inches smaller than Ma-San. She had bushy eyebrows and she wore a dark green blouse with beige dress pants, and a pair of bifocals.

(Are you alright? Did you stop them?) Papa-Ma asked Ma-San in a hurried tone.

(I'm okay! I...lost them. It was too dark to see.) Ma-San fibbed. Ensuring Rammy's safety.

Papa-Ma sighs knowing that the perp escaped. (Oh well...at least you're safe.)

Ma-San smiled a bit, it was nice to hear something like that once in a while.

(I'll call the police department tomorrow morning, but it's getting late.) Papa-Ma looks at the time, seeing that it's about closing time.

(I'll make us dinner. After that I think we can all use a good night's sleep.) Mama-Ma explains as she gives her daughter one last hug before heading upstairs to their apartment.

(While your mother cooks dinner, go to your room and study until she is finished.) He gives her an order.

Ma-San lets out another sigh. (...fine.)

As she was about to head up, Papa-Ma calls her.

(Ma-San?)

She turns around to face her Dad. (Yeah?)

(...I'm proud of you. You're a brave young woman.) He smiles at her lovingly.

The yellow mouse looks down to the floor, a little smile appearing on her face also. (...Thank you father.)


	40. Chop Chop Unemployed Onion

The canine inventor pours freshly brewed coffee into his mug, looking out of the kitchen window for a brief moment while mixing creamer with his beverage. His spouse is already sitting at the kitchen table, sporting her fireman hat and coat, sipping on her cup of joe. Papa sits across from Mama, smelling the strong aroma of the coffee before taking a small sip.

"Aaah...don't you want breakfast dear?" Papa Rappa asks.

"Nah I'm good hun, I'll eat when I get to the fire station. Chief Puddle's making bacon omelettes." The blonde dog answers.

Papa nods his head silently. He looks off to the side, thinking about something.

Mama sees this, knowing something is on his mind. "You okay Richard?"

"Yeah sweetie...but there's something I want to talk to you about." Papa says before he takes another little sip.

"Of course, what is it?" Mama raises her eyebrow.

"Well...it's about Parappa's friend..."

"What? PJ?"

"No no, not him! I meant the one living here." Papa reiterates.

"Oh...right." Mama already knows what her husband is going to talk about.

"He's been living here for around a month and a half now, and he still hasn't made an effort to find a job!" The father of two explains. "He can't keep living here if he's unable to pay some kind of rent!"

"Richard, he's been homeless for the longest time! We can't just kick him to the curb!" The firewoman states.

"I know he doesn't have anywhere else Phoenix, but we can't afford to feed another mouth! At least the Ant guy helps around the house and keeps to himself whenever possible, but Chop Chop's too much of a dependent!" Papa Rappa further explains his reasoning.

Mama Rappa props her elbow on the table, resting her head as she looks conflicted.

"I know it's a hard decision to make, maybe even a morally gray one, but you know that something needs to be done." Papa reaches out to her, placing a hand above hers.

The firefighter sighs. "You're...you're right...I just don't want to make it sound like we're the bad guys."

"Trust me honey, we aren't. We'll give him one week to find a place. I think there's a homeless shelter in Beagle City."

Mama Rappa looks down at her wristwatch, seeing the time. "Shoot, I'm going to be late! I gotta get going."

Phoenix downs the rest of her coffee and gets up. She embraces her husband in a hug and a kiss.

"I love you dear~"

"I love you too sweetheart, stay safe~"

The couple say their goodbyes as Mama heads out the door. But before she leaves, she runs into her son.

"Oh! Good morning Parappa! I'm about to head to work, so I'll see you when I get home. Love you!" Mama bends down to kiss Parappa on the forehead.

"I love you too mama! Bye!" Parappa says goodbye as Mama leaves. Little did she know, Parappa heard their whole conversation.

The pup was planning on getting some breakfast, but instead rushed back upstairs. Parappa opens the door to his bedroom, finding Chop Chop Master Onion sleeping in his usual spot on the floor.

"zzzz...get out of my dojo Ant...zzzzz..." Chop Chop mumbles as he sleeps.

"Teacher! Teacher! Wake up!" Parappa shakes Master Onion, attempting to wake him.

Chop Chop's eyes shoot open in a panic as he grabs Parappa and pins him to the ground.

"Whoa whoa whoa Master it's me! It's me!" Parappa holds his arms up as the Onion was about to go for a chop. The karate master quickly realizes he isn't in danger as he gets off of Parappa.

"Parappa what the heck did I tell you about waking me up like that! I almost chopped you like a lettuce." Chop Chop frowns at his student.

"Sorry teacher, but there's something important I gotta talk to you about!" Parappa says as he gets back on his feet.

"What is it?"

"Your gonna be kicked out real soon if you don't find a job!" Parappa breaks it to him.

Master Onion simply groans as he rolls his eyes. "This again? What's new? Your Dad's been saying this since I started living here. Besides, even if he is serious, Phoenix wouldn't let him throw me out!"

"That's the problem! They're both in agreement!" The rap dog exclaims.

Chop Chop's demeanor changed quickly as he immediately looked at Parappa. "What?"

"I overheard Mom and Pop talking in the kitchen! I think they said that they're gonna give you one week until you have to go!" Parappa explains and The onion looks a lot more worried.

"You're...you're lying! They wouldn't really kick me out...right?" Chop Chop looks perturbed.

"Look sensei, as much as I hate to say this, but they sort of got a point. We only got so much money, and you not payin' rent isn't helping." The young canine honestly explains.

Chop Chop sits at the foot of the bed, burying his face in his hands. "What the heck am I going to do?! I'm about to get evicted and I don't know where to look for a job..." The onion turns his head towards Parappa, giving him an absolutely defeated look.

"I...I can't live on the streets again...not again...I would rather die."

Parappa looks heartbroken at these words. He sits next to his teacher, putting his arm on his shoulder.

"Look sensei, I'm gonna help you find a job at every step of the way. I promise."

Chop Chop looks at him once more. "You really mean that?"

"Of course I do! I believe in you!" Parappa smiles.

Chop Chop Master Onion feels comforted now, showing a small smile of his own. "Okay...where do we start?"

...

"Sensei look! Helped Wanted! You can try this place!" Parappa points to the help wanted sign as they're strolling through town.

"A hair salon? Seriously?" Chop Chop looks at Parappa in a quizzical manner.

"Why not? It can't be that hard!" Parappa shrugs.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to check it out." Chop Chop admits as he and Parappa head inside.

As they walk in, they are immediately greeted by a certain blue octopus.

"Hola! I'll be with you in a moment!" The Hairdresser Octopus enthusiastically says as he continues to work on a customers hair, snipping away at it with a pair of scissors.

"Huh, he's pretty good." Chop Chop observes.

"Yeah he's the best! Just don't let him hold you hostage."

"Wait what?!"

Before Parappa can explain, the octopus finishes his client's haircut.

"All done! Adios! Have an amazing day sir!" He waves at the content customer as he leaves.

"Alright then, how can I help you gentlemen today!" The charismatic hairdresser smiles.

"Hello...uh...I'm here for the job application." Chop Chop says, pointing at the help wanted sign.

"Ah! Muy Bueno! I could use another hand around here! My name is Takoyama!"

"I'm Chop Chop Master Onion."

"Ay that's a mouthful! Anyway, do you have experience in cutting hair?" Takoyama asks the onion.

"Uh...I have experience in chopping things. That's kind of like cutting I guess." Master Onion answers.

"Eh, close enough I say!" Takoyama agrees with the onion.

"Um, excuse me? Can I please get my hair cut please?" An impatient customer speaks up, sitting in one of the chairs.

"Oh! Lo siento! I'm on my way!" Takoyama shouts out to the impatient customer. "Hey Onion Man! How about you show me what you can do?" The hairdresser gestures for Chop Chop to try cutting the man's hair.

"Oh okay. What's the worst that could happen?" Chop Chop shrugs as he gets ready to cut some hair.

The karate teacher thinks about how to do this in the most efficient way possible, tapping his chin in thought. Just then, a lightbulb goes off in his mind. Taking a handful of the customer's hair, he holds it up and reels back his arm.

"Sensei, what are you doi-"

"CHOP!"

 **Whack!**

The unfortunate soul goes flying off the seat, tumbling onto the floor. Both Parappa and Takoyama's jaws drop as Master Onion begins to freak out.

"I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I MEAN'T TO CHOP YOUR HAIR NOT YOUR HEAD!" Chop Chop apologizes profusely as he attempts to pick the guy back up.

"Auuuuugghh..." The man moans. The fellow's hair than spontaneously falls of his head, leaving him completely bald.

Everyone's mouths dropped a few extra inches.

"Yo how's that even possible?" Parappa blurts out.

The man feels the top of his bald head, his eyes are wide like saucers.

"MY HAIR! MY MONEYMAKER! NOOOOOO!" The poor man sobs.

"I-I'm sorry s-senor...I-" Takoyama begins to apologize, but he is cut off.

"Quiet you!" The man snaps. "This is unacceptable! You're going to pay for this! I'm...I'M...I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU A ONE-STAR ZELP REVIEW!" The man screams as he storms out of the salon.

"Nooooooooo!" Takoyama drops to his knees, very upset by his now tarnished Zelp score.

A few moments of silence go by before Chop Chop speaks.

"So uh...am I hired?"

Suddenly, the octopus' skin went from blue to red in a matter of seconds, the tentacles on his head swaying upward instead of downward. He shoots a terrifying glare at the onion.

" **Get. Out.** "

Without wasting another moment, both Chop Chop Master Onion and Parappa run out of the salon, rationally fearing for their lives.

...

Some time has passed as Parappa and Chop Chop start to head down a dark alleyway.

"You're saying you know a guy who works here? Sounds a bit too shady Parappa.." Chop Chop says with uncertainty in his voice.

"Trust me, he's not shady! I mean, he sold me a cellphone that turned out to be alive...and it tried to kill my friends...but besides that he ain't shady!" Parappa tries to reassure the karate master.

The onion stares at the pup as they approach the metal door at the end of the alley.

"Hey Dylan, it's me Parappa! Open up!" The rapper calls out to the merchant inside, knocking on the door.

The door slot opens up, revealing Dylan's white glowing eyes.

"Oh, it's you again. What the hell do you want?" The figure inside sounds very uninterested in Parappa's presence.

"My friend here's looking for work! Can you help him out?" Parappa asks, stepping aside to reveal a nervous Chop Chop.

Dylan examines the Tamanegi sensei through the slot. "Hmm...filthy clothes...unpleasant look...awful odor...you're perfect."

The door opens, revealing the robed figure. "I got a little job for you if you're up to it."

"Uh...what kind of job."

"Well one of my more...uh...exotic pets left it's cage and it's hiding somewhere in here. I need you to help me find it." Dylan explains the task at hand.

"Well, that doesn't sound too bad-"

Chop Chop is interrupted by a terrible other-wordly shriek coming from inside, causing both Parappa and the onion to freeze in place.

"Will you keep it down!" Dylan turns around to yell at something inside his shop.

"Sorry about that. Anyway I-" Dylan turns back to face the two, only to discover that they're sprinting away.

The robed merchant sighs to himself. "Well, at least I wont have to pick up any bones today."

...

The day is coming to an end, as it almost evening now. Parappa and Chop Chop have spent the entire day job searching, with all the opportunities either ending with rejection or dismissal. Who knew finding a job would be this hard?

The pup and the onion sat inside Beard Burger, Parappa Town's other burger joint, having a bite to eat before calling it a day.

"I'm sorry we didn't have much luck today sensei...but look at the bright side! We still have six days to find a job!" Parappa tries to cheer up his karate teacher, popping a fry into his mouth in the process.

"Parappa, there isn't a lot of available work here in Parappa Town for someone like me." Chop Chop gloomily takes a bite out of his chicken sandwich.

"Hey, I'm sure we'll find something!" Parappa insists, not wanting to give up.

A minute of awkward silence goes by, the only noise is coming from the kitchen and the chatter of the few other restaurant patrons.

"Mmmph...you know...ever since I moved to this country, I dreamed of opening a dojo." Chop Chop explains, casually dipping a french fry in ketchup.

"I immigrated here from my home country, because nobody there cared about karate anymore. Not since World War 4 at least."

Parappa sat there silently, listening.

"There was nothing in Rettou that was worthwhile for me. All I cared about was teaching karate, So I came to Rodney State. With all the action movies that were made here, I thought it was a good idea to come here, thinking Rodnesians would respect karate more."

"I respect karate!" Parappa interjects.

"I know you do. I remember getting off that boat in Starlight City 16 years ago. I became a Rodney State citizen. I thought I could just open up a dojo like that, but unfortunately, things are never that easy. I work low paying, not respectable jobs for an entire decade before I saved enough to start my own dojo. I was so happy when I opened it. It's easily the happiest memory I have..." Chop Chop sighs solemnly.

"I'm...I'm sure you'll get your dojo back one day sensei." Parappa feigns a little smile, trying to give him some hope.

Master Onion remains quiet for a few moments.

"...Maybe I should leave Parappa Town."

"What?!" Parappa looks flabbergasted by those words. "You-you can't leave!"

"It would be for the best. There's nothing left for me here." Chop Chop admits with sadness.

"That's not true! That's not true at all! You have friends here, and there's plenty of people here that would still love to learn karate one day! Look, I'm not going to give up that easily, and neither should you. I'm positive you'll find a job here, because you know why? It's because I believe!" Parappa hits the table to emphasize his point.

"Parappa...I-" The karate teacher was cut off before he could say anything else.

"Excuse me?"

Both the dog and the onion look over to see a young overweight human with a big black afro standing beside the table they were sitting at.

"What do you want Noodle? Can't you see we're tryin' to talk here?" Parappa blurts out unhappily, not liking the fact he interrupted their serious conversation.

"My apologies..." Colonel Noodle says insincerely. "Anyway I couldn't help but overhear you saying you're in need of some work?" Noodle turns to face the onion.

"That's correct." Chop Chop confirms.

"Well you're in luck. I just so happen to be hiring." The human states.

Parappa's eyes light up. "Master Onion! Did you hear that? You can work here!"

"I don't know...I'm not sure about being a fry-cook..." Chop Chop looks uncertain as he rubs the back of his neck.

"Look man, the only reason a spot's available right now is because one of my employees was a stupid idiot and tried to play chicken with the lettuce shredder. If you don't want the job, I have several desperate teens who would gladly take it." Noodle explains as he folds his arms.

"Sensei, if you get a job here, you'll be able to pay rent! That means you can stay here in Parappa Town and you can stay with us!" Parappa clarifies. "Also, you'll be able to save up to open up your dojo again! Isn't that what you want?"

Chop Chop takes a moment to think, with both Parappa and Noodle waiting for an answer.

"Well?" The afroed young man raises his eyebrow.

"...okay. I'll work here." Chop Chop decides.

"Alright!" Parappa smiles happily with his decision.

"Okay then, here's your application. Fill it out by Monday morning. See you then." Noodle hands Master Onion the papers and heads back to the kitchen, having business to attend to.

"See that Parappa? I told you not to lose hope!" Chop Chop smiles at his protege.

"Sensei, I was the one to-"

"Hey, do you think your Mom will be proud of me?" The tamanegi interrupts him suddenly.

"I mean, I guess s-"

"Good...good." Chop Chop Master Onion smiles to himself, sitting back in his seat.


	41. Chop Chop Employed Onion

10 o'clock Monday morning. Chop Chop Master Onion was walking to his new job, dressed in his new work clothes Noodle supplied him. Strolling down the sidewalk clad in a red and yellow striped collared shirt with a matching cap, along with a white apron to accompany it, the tamanegi sensei didn't look all to thrilled. He would much rather prefer wearing his usual karate robes. Plus it's been nearly half a year since he wore anything but.

Surprisingly that wasn't the main reason why Chop Chop wasn't exactly skipping down the street. Being a fast food worker wasn't much of an honorable profession in his opinion. The man's had way worse jobs before in his life, but this wasn't much of an improvement. If he had to choose, he'd still be teaching karate in the old Fruits Dojo. Those few years were the highlight of his life. He longs for those days to return, but for that to happen, he'll need to work his way back to the top. If that means he'll be flipping burgers for the next while, so be it.

Chop Chop Master Onion finally arrives at Beard Burger. He enters his new place of employment and sees his new boss arguing with a customer.

"For the last time, we don't serve flies in our kitchen." The young restaurateur frowns at the amphibious man on the other side of the counter.

"Aw come on now mon, who do ya think you're foolin'. I can see all da flies from here." The laid back Prince Fleaswallow points to the flies flying around in the kitchen.

"Sir just because we have flies doesn't mean we serve them...on purpose." Noodle explains, leaning on the counter with a frustrated expression.

"Bah! Y'all wouldn't know good cuisine if it hit you on da head mon. I'm outta here." Fleaswallow grumbles as he takes his leave.

Colonel Noodle sighs with distaste for the world as he glances over to see his new employee approaching him.

"Oh wow you actually showed up." The afroed boy casually says. "Well come over here then, let me show you around."

Chop Chop follows Noodle into the kitchen as he is about to take him on a little tour.

"You ever cook in a restaurant before?" The colonel asks him as he leads him into the kitchen.

"No." Chop Chop simply answers.

"Well, it's not too hard. You just got to know how to make burgers and boil noodles." Noodle points at the menu, which has half of it scratched out with the word **Noodles** written in black marker over the etched out words.

"What kind of burger joint makes noodles?" Chop Chop raises his eyebrow.

"Well, since trying to turn the town into noodles didn't work out so well, I figured that adding noodles to the menu alongside burgers was a decent alternative." Noodle explains.

"Wait a minute, that was YOU?! You turned my new car into a giant blob of spaghetti!" Master Onion frowns at his new boss.

"We all make mistakes." The human innocently shrugs.

"How are you not in jail?" Chop Chop questions him.

"Turns out the people of Parappa Town are forgiving people. Buuuuut..." Noodle bends over, rolling up his pant leg revealing a black ankle monitor.

"I was put on a Domestic Terrorist Watchlist and I can't leave the country for 20 years." He explains as Chop Chop's eyes widen upon seeing the government tracking device.

"I'm under constant surveillance. Hi Steve!" Noodle waves to a green anthropomorphic dog wearing shades and a black suit sitting at one of the tables. The government agent casually waves back before resuming to read a newspaper.

"Anyway, enough jibber jabber! Time to train ya." The afroed boy walks over to a small little stereo in the corner of the kitchen. He connects his phone to it and skims through his playlist.

"Let's see...no...no...heck no...okay here we go." Noodle selects his song of choice, a funky beat is emitting from the old stereo as Noodle does a funny dance.

"Alright alright! Just follow my rap and you'll be flipping burgers like a pro! Here we go-"

"Whoa whoa whoa! Hang on just a second! Stop the music!" Chop Chop Master Onion sees what's going on and objects.

The self-proclaimed Colonel frowns before pausing the music. "Aaaaugh I was in the flow! What is it?!"

"I don't know who you are, but I'm a master in KARATE and RAP! I do not need lessons!" Chop Chop folds his arms in protest.

"Yes you do! You know jack all about working here and you're going to follow my rap whether you like it or not!" Noodle shouts at the onion, gaining a few stares from the other employees.

"I refuse to follow the rap of a Noodle slurping kid with a bad hair cut! No way!" The tamanegi sensei puts his foot down.

Noodle growls as he takes Chop Chop by the collar of his shirt, who yelps in surprise, and yanks him close, to where they're face to face.

"Look here grandpa. I do not give a single shit that you were a karate rapper or whatever! While you're employed by me, you do whatever the hell I say. If I say go on grill duty, you do it. If I say mop up a spill, you do it. If I say follow my fucking rap you better do it or else on my father's grave you are done. I will personally toss you out of my restaurant, got it!" Noodle explains with clenched teeth, his eyes have a look of fury in them.

Chop Chop nods his head with a terrified expression.

"You ready to rap then?"

"Y-yes."

"What was that?"

"Y-yes sir..."

Noodle devilishly grins as he releases the middle-aged onion, who scurries back a few steps.

"Okie dokie! Let's get back to it!" The boy smiles as he resumes the music.

...

Loading...

...

"Ugh! Yeah! Here we go! I got many things for me to show! If you want to start working here, with the kings! Then I gotta teach ya all sorts of things! Ready or not, here we go! Here's some stuff that you got to know!

"Put on yo' gloves!"

"Put on yo' gloves!"

"Stand up to the plate!"

"Stand up to the plate!"

"Feel the love bruv!"

"Feel the love bruv!"

"It's gonna be great!"

"It's gonna be great!"

"Grill the burger! Grill, grill, the burger!"

"Grill the burger! Grill, grill, the burger!"

"French all the fries! French all the fries!"

French all the fries! French all the fries!"

"Take precaution! Don't get burnt now."

"Take precaution! Don't get burnt now."

"If you do, you're probably gonna cry!"

"If you do, you're probably gonna cry!"

Lettuce is green, tomatoes are red. Hey don't worry! Y'all will be fed! Breakin' out the bread, the buns, and the cheese! Beard Burger will take care of your needs!"

"Flip that burger! Lay down the cheese!"

"Flip that burger! Lay down the cheese!"

"When it looks done, put it on the bun!"

"When it looks done, put it on the bun!"

"Lettuce, tomatoes, onions and more!"

"Lettuce, tomatoes, onions and more!"

"Ketchup, mustard, mayo galore!"

"Ketchup, mustard, mayo galore!"

Now that that boring stuff's out of the way! Here's something like my Dad used to say! Noodles! Noodles! It's all I have in mind! We cook the best, and they taste real fine! Get ready there Chop, cuz here comes the fun! I'm so excited I just want to run!

"Boil the water, make it nice and hot!"

"Boil the water, make it nice and hot!"

"The noodles be boilin' if you like it or not!"

"The noodles be boilin' if you like it or not!"

"Beef, chicken, shrimp! No matter the flavor."

"Beef, chicken, shrimp! No matter the flavor!"

"I'm a culinary genius, call me your savior!"

"I'm a culinary genius. call me your savior!"

We got the basics down, not bad, can't complain. If it took any longer, I woulda went insane! Uh oh we gotta spill! Look right over there! Here's the mop, now that's taken care!"

"Mop up that mess before we get ants!"

"Mop up that mess before we get ants!"

"Relax. it's okay! Don't wet your pants!"

"Relax, it's okay! Don't wet your pants!"

"Those happen a lot, so be on your guard!"

"Those happen a lot, so be on your guard!"

"What did I tell ya? Was that so hard?"

"What did I tell ya? Was that so hard?"

...

"Welp...seeing how I taught ya the run down of the place, let's see how you do on your own." Noodle says as wipes his brow.

Chop Chop nods, still kinda cautious of his new boss. As he goes to turn around, he hears him call out to him.

"Oh, one more thing Onion."

"Wh-what?" Master Onion asks as he looks behind him.

"In here...I'm the master...not you." Noodle says with a sinister expression before he goes back to work.

This is going to be quite the ride for poor ol' Master Onion.


	42. Koffee Kingdom

Coffee. The whole world basically runs off of it. It's amazing how much people love this miracle liquid. First thing in the morning after just waking up? Have some coffee. Need a boost of energy during the day? Coffee time. Talking to a good friend? Gotta have some coffee. If there's one thing Katrina Kat learned after working in this little coffee shop in small town Rodney State for three years, it's that you'll never have to worry about a lack of coffee drinkers.

Katrina was the manager of the Parappa Town Koffee Kingdom. Koffee Kingdom was a relatively small coffee chain. Besides the location in Parappa Town, there was only a few others. One South in Beagle City, one all the way up in Starlight City, and another one in some random small town in the province of Burks. But it pales in comparison to the rising Cup o' Joe Express chain, owned by the super wealthy Chin Family, with Joe Chin as the mascot/spokesperson. It's only been around for a year and there's already 50+ stores in existence, including one on the other side of Parappa Town. Unfortunately, Koffee Kingdom only gets a fraction of the business the Cup o' Joe Express gets. Despite all that the Koffee Kingdom gets by.

Katrina enjoys working at the place. The money's okay, but since her daughter Katy recently got a job as a waitress, the adult cat woman feels better financially than she's felt in a long time.

"So Sweety, you plan on cheerleading next school year?" Katrina asks Sweety Bancha as she wipes down the coffee machines, trying to make conversation.

Sweety was an employee at the Koffee Kingdom as well. She comes in after school and works until close. She wore her work uniform, a light green collared shirt with a brown apron, the same uniform everyone else wears, as well as her favorite red bow on the top of her head.

"Oh definitely! Cheerleading is so much fun! Being with the other girls, cheering on our team, and making people excited. It's so awesome." Sweety smiles while wiping down one of the tables.

"I hate to burst your bubble there Smiles, but the cheerleaders don't really cheer up the crowd. Especially when all the team does is lose." The third employee dryly adds to the conversation, blowing a bubble while standing behind the register.

She was a tall, lean teenage girl with a light gray coffee cup for a head. A thin crack runs down the middle of her face where her nose should be.

"I beg to differ Gelato! All of our combined school spirit makes a ginormous difference!" The pink teddy bear folds her arms with a huff.

The coffee cup snorts at her fellow employee's remark. "Pfft, just like our amazing customer service makes a difference when it comes to this place's failing business."

"Settle down you two." Katrina speaks up, the last thing she needs is to hear them bicker.

The door chimes open, causing the three coffee shop employees to turn their heads towards the entrance.

"Hi Mom!" Katy greets her mother with a big sweet smile on her face. She was holding a shopping bag in each hand.

"Hey honeybun! What brings you here?" The adult feline asks with a warm expression, delighted that her daughter dropped by to visit.

"I just wanted to stop by and show you what I picked up at the Flea Market today! To see what you think." Katy explains as she searches one of her bags. The young blue cat pulls out a fashionable jacket with what appears to be a snow leopard texture pattern.

"I really like the design! Like if I wore it, it would bring out my wild side!" Katy exclaims in a jovial demeanor.

"Anything you wear brings out your wild side." Katrina giggles while leaning on the counter.

"You have a point, but it still looks groovy! It'll make me look even groovier when I wear this for our next concert!" The blue feline beams with excitement.

"I think you will look beautiful in it Katy." Sweety warmly smiles at her good friend.

"Aww thanks Sweety! That's nice of you to say!" Katy genuinely thanks her for the compliment.

"Yeah! What do you think Gelato?" The teddy bear turns toward her much taller co-worker.

"I-I..um...y-yeah you know uh...I think it looks uh-good and uh I uh...I like your band." Gelato awkwardly blurts out, steam rising from the top of her head as she tried to string the sentence together.

"Oh! Well, thanks! That's good to hear!" Katy says, trying to ignore the obviously awkward feeling in the air.

"Anyway...I'm gonna head home now! I'll head to band practice soon after so I'll be home a couple hours after your shift ends." She explains to her mother.

"Alright sweetie, I'll see you then! I love you!" Katrina gives Katy a little hug over the counter.

"I love you too momma! See ya! Bye Sweety! Bye uh..."

"G-G-G-G-" The cup tries desperately to say her name.

"Gelato." Sweety makes the save.

"Uh, bye Gelato!" Katy gives a small wave goodbye to the odd barista.

"Bye baby!" Katrina is the last to say goodbye before Katy heads out the door.

The slender coffee cup girl buries her face in her hands with a groan, steam rising from the top of her head. "God I looked like such a dork..."

"Wow Gelato, I didn't know you liked Milkcan!" Sweety remarks, grinning at her red-faced co-worker.

"They're okay I guess." Gelato rubs the back of her neck as she awkwardly looks towards the ceiling.

"It's obvious you think they're more than okay. Seeing how it looked like you had a Kat got your tongue moment! Heehee! Get it!?" The pink bear snickers to herself with the pun she made.

"Dear lord, at least I'm not half the dork you are." The older teen shakes her head as Sweety continues to laugh.

"It's nothing to be ashamed about hun, my daughter is talented enough to make anyone a fan." Katrina adds, with a hint of pride in her voice.

She adores when people talk highly about her little girl. Katy's a young, talented woman and it makes her so proud every time she strives to achieve her goals and dreams. Katrina's greatest wish is for Katy to have a successful and happy life, something Katrina herself used to have when she was younger.

Katrina's greatest fear, on the other hand, is for Katy to make the same mistakes she made all those years ago.

The middle-aged cat's smile faded, memories of a past she left behind flooding in. Katrina sighs as she attempts to keep herself occupied with minor tasks while listening to Sweety and Gelato's constant banter.

It was just another day at the Parappa Town Koffee Kingdom.


End file.
